Finding the Llama Within
by DuckFiend
Summary: -*-  Now complete!!  -*- One year has passed since the events in the film.  It's time once more for Kuzco to pick a bride but how long can he elude his duties as Emperor?  Especially when someone new catches his eye . . .
1.

Finding the Llama Within  
By J.E. Zison  
  
Prologue  
  
Down in South America, in a country called Peru, once flourished a now extinct civilization. It was just beginning to thrive and grow in the 1400's - just about at the same time the Renaissance spread through Europe. This empire survived on its agriculture but had exceptional technology, including an irrigation system that had "running water."  
The Incas, just like every other group of people, had their fables and myths; for instance how the bridge high above the Urubama river got destroyed.  
Disney's talented writers and animators answered that question and also created a legend . . . About a young emperor who was turned into a llama and through finding friendship in an unlikely peasant man, was saved and returned to his human state.  
But what Disney doesn't know is that in the city of Qosqo, once called Aqha-Mama before that special young emperor came to power, their epic did not end there . . .  
  



	2. 

Chapter One  
  
" . . . I really wonder,  
Is there magic in your smile?  
Taking me under,  
Got me acting like a child . . .  
Something about you hit me like an avalanche-  
I try to stand my ground  
But I don't stand a chance . . ."  
~Amy Grant, "Say You'll Be Mine"  
  
In the little town atop the rolling green hills, there were many beautiful ponds of water. But the most beautiful of these ponds was the one in which Emperor Kuzco saw his face as a llama for the first time.  
This particular morning found the pond by Pacha's home as tranquil as ever and the water rippled slightly as a breeze caressed its glassy surface.  
But as the day warmed, the silence seemed to be swallowed up when, one by one, the children of the town emerged from their houses.  
At last, the sun's rays reached the beautiful little pond. Its tranquility was shattered instantly.  
"I'm gonna get there first!"  
"Nuh-uh, Tipo! Nuh uh, nuh uh, nuh uh! I will!"  
"Yeah-huh I will!"  
"Nuh-uh!"  
"Yeah-huh!"  
"Nuh-uh!"  
"Yeah-huh!"  
"Yeah-huh."  
"Nuh-" Tipo's older sister, Chaca, stopped abruptly. "Hey!"  
Tipo didn't stop fast enough and plowed right into her, knocking her, belly first, into the pond. He lost his balance and tumbled into the pond as well, just after her.  
"You cheated!" Chaca cried. "You tried to get me to say 'Nuh-uh' when I was gonna say 'Yeah-huh!'"  
"Did not!"  
"Did so!"  
"Did not!"  
"Did so!"  
"Do I hear bickering?" Chicha's voice rang out to them, melodious and merry as always. She smiled, watching her two oldest children splashing about in the nearby pond. She cradled the new baby in her arms at that moment and glanced back at Pacha.  
Pacha stood solemnly behind her, obviously in deep thought. The summer was drawing to a close, despite the continuing warm weather, and his family knew what that meant. That is, beside starting the fall harvest.  
"Pacha," Chicha spoke softly, turning her head toward him. "Why not go with him? At least escort him back to the palace."  
"But what about Talu?"  
"She'll be fine. And I can take care of her once she gets here."  
"But . . . the kids and the baby - I don't want you stressing yourself out."  
Chicha smiled. "Don't worry about me. And remember, Nhutalu's not five anymore. She'll be able to help with Tipo and Chaca."  
"Still-"  
"Think about it, okay, Sweetie?" Chicha glanced at the neighboring hill in time to see the front door of the house perched atop it swing open. "If you insist on staying . . . At least go say good-bye to him. For both of us."  
Pacha sighed and silently made his way up to the neighboring home.  
"Hi," Pacha greeted Kuzco, walking up to the front door of the Emperor's summer home.  
Kuzco let out a long breath before responding, while staring at his feet. "Hi."  
"So . . . Going home, huh?"  
"Leaving home," muttered Kuzco.  
"What?"  
"Oh, nothing."  
"So, a week from now . . . That's the big day."  
Kuzco frowned. "Yeah. Goody. Get to look through another set of girls who all look exactly alike. Hopefully they won't bring back that psycho from last year. Would you believe that one tried to hurt me?"  
Pacha snorted. "The way you were back then . . . Honestly . . ."  
"Okay, all right, don't answer that."  
"I can . . . uh . . . if you wanted . . ."  
"What?"  
"Um . . ." Pacha fidgeted slightly.  
"Are you going to offer to come with me?" Kuzco asked, trying not to sound overly hopeful.  
"Well . . ." Pacha glanced at him. "If you want to . . ."  
Kuzco smiled. "Nah, I'll be fine now that all the panthers are gone."  
Pacha chuckled. "Then why the long face?"  
"Next week," Kuzco practically spat. Suddenly, he brightened. "You know what would make that whole ordeal much easier?"  
Pacha grinned, patting Kuzco firmly on the back. "I'll be there."  
"Thank you." With a warm hug, Kuzco departed his summer home silently.  
  
At the foot of the village in the hills, a young traveling girl not more than eighteen years of age stopped her journey to catch her breath. Her name was Nhutalu, and she appeared fragile - much too fragile to travel as much as she did.  
Nhutalu sat down in the grass just beside a small pond of water. She had been walking across cruel terrain for days but finally her destination was in sight. She would be there by sundown - at the very latest. That is, barring any unexpected detours. Watching the row of huts carpeting the rising hills, Nhutalu spotted a figure coming down toward her. She thought at first that it was her cousin's husband, but, she recalled, he was not a walking twig. She assumed that it wasn't him -not unless he lost weight since she last saw him. Of course, that scenario wasn't unlikely - Nhutalu had not seen this part of her family for about thirteen years. Nonetheless, she leaned over the small pond and dipped her hand into the chilly water. She delicately sipped at what she had managed to capture, paying more attention to her thirst than to the approaching stranger. As fate had it, however, the man decided to stop at the pond for a drink as well. Only after they had both satisfactorily quenched their thirst did they regard each other.  
Nhutalu glanced at Kuzco briefly at first. In disbelief, she gave him a double-take; she could not believe her eyes.  
Kuzco, however, stared openly at the girl. This chance meeting would decidedly make the bridge-choosing thing vastly more difficult. The girl was imperfect - slender all over, from her long neck to her delicate wrists. But there was a quality about her; perhaps the sparkle in her black eyes or the gentle way her lips curled up at the ends when she smiled slightly - that made him go weak in the knees. But there was something else. She looked painfully familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before. Had she been one of the potential brides he had mistakenly overlooked?  
Nhutalu's shy smile never faded as long as the handsome villager stared at her. She took the opportunity to burn his image forever in her memory, studying everything from his wide, perfect eyes to his adorable poncho with a llama on it. He was easily the most handsome man she had ever seen - not to say that the men in her village back home were not good looking. They just didn't look like him.  
Nhutalu and Kuzco stood up at the same time, still watching each other.  
"So . . ." Kuzco said slowly, still gazing at her, "you on your way up into the village?"  
"Yeah," Nhutalu replied, blushing deeply. "I'm visiting my cousin and her family . . ."  
"That's sweet . . ."  
"So, you're leaving?" Nhutalu asked after a small hesitation.  
"Yeah . . ." Kuzco sighed.  
"Oh." Nhutalu didn't know the first thing about this man but hearing that he was leaving was a sure sign that she would never see him again. To avoid further heartache, she turned away, gathering her bags into her arms and slowly began making her ascent. " . . . Bye . . ." She said to him, without looking back.  
Kuzco continued his journey, as well, whispering after the girl, "Good-bye . . ."  
  
The sun had long-since dipped below the edges of the hills by the time Nhutalu reached her destination, but the sky was still bright and the weather still warm.  
Nhutalu worried, as she approached the modest house at the very top of the tallest hill, that no one would remember or recognize her. She heard the unmistakable laughter of young children as she raised her fist to the hand-carved mahogany door. Never spending much time with the young children of her village, she was anxious to meet her second cousins. The last time she had been there, neither had been born yet.  
Merely a heartbeat after knocking, the door swung open.  
"Nhutalu?!" Chicha cried, pulling her into a tight embrace.  
"Chicha . . ." Nhutalu gasped, slowly putting her arms around her cousin. She took that opportunity to look at her surroundings. Chicha's house was exceptionally well kept; neat despite the obvious influence of two young children and a one-year-old baby. In another doorway appeared a large silhouette that Nhutalu instantly recognized. He had neither gained nor lost weight since she had been in that village last; not to any noticeable degree, anyway.  
Upon seeing Nhutalu, Pacha's expression softened considerably, into an almost goofy smile. "Is that my lovely wife's lovely young cousin?" He asked.  
Once Chicha let go of her, Nhutalu went to Pacha and gave him a warm hug. "It's been much too long," she told him.  
"Yes, it has," said Chicha and Pacha in unison.  
It was then that Nhutalu caught the movement out of the corner of her eye.  
"Tipo, Chaca, come here," Chicha beckoned to her two children. "Nhutalu's here."  
The two kids ran over when hearing that their second cousin had arrived and - in a quite un-shy manner - threw their arms around her legs.  
"Nhutalu, Nhutalu!" Tipo cried. "Come see the new toy Daddy's friend made me!"  
"Nonono! Come see the new poncho Mommy made me!" Cried Chaca, tugging desperately on the hem of Nhutalu's dress.  
Nhutalu glanced between the two young children and smiled. Her worry over whether or not she'd be welcome had vanished without a trace. She chuckled, stooping down to match the height of Chaca and her younger brother. "I'm gonna stay for a long while, so I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to show me all your neat stuff!"  
Tipo and Chaca cheered, racing back to their room, eager to begin sharing their prized possessions with her.  
  
The sun had set a while ago and with the absence of the sunlight, Kuzco had stopped his trek back to the palace and set up camp. He laid on the ground, his head peeking out of his tent and his hands resting on his chest. Through the leaves and healthily lush branches of the giant trees surrounding him, Kuzco could see patches of night sky. His breaths came silent and steady, the air not yet cold enough to produce puffs of smoke each time he exhaled.  
Kuzco was not fond of those trips, especially since his first one had not been enjoyable. But even he had to admit this particular trip was not so terrible. At least it was not raining.  
No, this time the trip back wasn't what Kuzco dreaded. It was what he was going back for.  
The same old girls. Same boring white dresses. Same hideous haircuts, similar face shapes and nothing different to offer. And they all had personalities to match, save one who had a temper that he was just not willing to deal with. And, he was guessing, "The Thing that Wouldn't Shut Up" would bring back the same exact girls. Which then meant that he would have to come up with new insults - just to appear creative to everyone. On the bright side, at least Pacha would be there and that would make things easier.  
Why couldn't they ever bring him anyone different? Didn't they see that those girls were nothing special? He was the emperor! What they did by presenting the same group, year in and year out, was practically as insulting as if they brought him some shabby female from one of the villages!  
. . . Yes, some poor peasant village girl like the one he'd run into at the pond. Kuzco smiled. Yep, she was certainly shabby and peasant-y and female-y enough. Above all that, she was . . . well, she was . . . She was different! Beautiful brilliant red dress and long sleek black hair. This coy smile and those big, round eyes that just stared at him.  
Kuzco gasped. That's what it was! Her eyes! Well, not just her eyes -- although they were gorgeous - it was the way she looked at him. None of the girls they brought him ever looked at him like was anything special. This girl looked at him - gazed at him -- as if he was the emperor. And she didn't even know he was.  
"Gow!" Kuzco slapped himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand. He spoke quietly, as if speaking to the girl, "Hey, I'm over in the palace if you ever need anything - milk, flour, . . . husband . . ." He then hissed, "I wish I'd said that!" Kuzco rolled over, pressing his face into his forearm. "Now I'm never gonna see her again . . ."  
  
Nhutalu had been more silent than usual the following morning, but a small smile played on her lips constantly since she had awakened.  
Chicha kept glancing at Nhutalu continuously while doing her chores. Finally, Chicha stopped what she was doing and took Nhutalu by the hand.  
"Where are we going?" Nhutalu asked, barely able to keep up.  
"To a place where we can gossip - I mean, catch up!" Chicha grinned.  
"But the kids -"  
"Pacha will take good care of them while we're gone!"  
  
Most of the women at the Weaver's Circle were busy knitting or crocheting ponchos for their families. Chicha sat, putting her basket down to her left and beckoning for Nhutalu to sit down to her right, just beneath the shade of a cloth overhang. The new girl gained some attention from some of the other peasant women; most of them paid attention only long enough to greet her and get her name, however.  
Chicha began work on her newest poncho, this one a slightly deeper, richer red than Nhutalu's dress. "So . . . tell me," she spoke lightly, "how was your trip?"  
"Long," Nhutalu replied honestly, "and tiring."  
"Well, you can rest now . . ."  
"I'd like to help you, though! I feel . . . you know, bad, if I don't carry my own weight . . ."  
Chicha smiled. "In about two weeks or so, we'll be starting to gather from the crops. If you insist on helping, I'm sure we can use you there."  
Nodding, Nhutalu said, "I should be up to it by then."  
"You've had that small, sweet smile on your face all morning. You must've slept well," Chicha observed, quickly changing the subject.  
Nhutalu giggled infectiously, staring off into the distance. "You could . . . um . . . say that." Suddenly, she glanced at Chicha. "Um, I mean, any night not spent traveling is a good night." She sighed contentedly. "I slept well."  
Chicha knew that smile and sigh all too well. "I certainly hope you did not have to leave anyone behind in your village."  
Nhutalu blinked, then began playing with the hem of her skirt. "My parents and younger sisters. A couple of friends . . ."  
"You had . . . no . . . special . . . man you were betrothed to?"  
"No!" Nhutalu cried. She regained her composure quickly. "I mean, no. The guys in my village were very nice but they were . . . well . . . none of them were special enough for me, I guess." Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she explained, "None were very interested in me. They all said I was too thin."  
Chicha clucked disapprovingly, shaking her head. "So you were eager to get away from them?"  
"Huh?"  
"The way you're smiling, you seem eager to be away from them."  
Nhutalu hesitated. "Not exactly." This was what always got her in trouble. But she trusted Chicha. "I . . . met someone yesterday."  
Chicha stopped what she was going, setting the wool down in her lap. Her guess about the cause of Nhutalu's smile had been correct but the answer still caught her by surprise. After a moment, she picked up her wool again. With a sneaky smile, Chicha said, "Do tell! Please!"  
"Well . . ." Nhutalu dawdled, closing her eyes and tilting her head slightly to the sky. "He was . . . and . . . well . . ."  
"You're articulate," Chicha chuckled.  
"Argh!" Nhutalu sighed, collapsing on her back, her hands clasped over her chest. "He . . ." Suddenly, she sat back up, putting her hand on Chicha's shoulder. "Have you ever been so head-over-heels for a guy that . . . Well . . . I mean . . . When you see him, he's just so gorgeous that he makes you want to cry?"  
Chicha smiled, glancing at Nhutalu but staying silent. Of course she knew the feeling. What married woman didn't?  
"He had these big, round eyes that were just these endless, bottomless pools of black . . . And . . . and . . . this bright, charming smile." Nhutalu paused. "Did I mention his eyes?"  
Chicha's smile grew even more. "Yes. You did. And you mentioned his smile. Anything else? What's his name?"  
The dreamy look on Nhutalu's face faded instantly. "Actually . . . I don't know. I . . . Didn't get a chance to ask." Then she brightened. "But I'll never forget the adorable poncho he had! It was green - like Pacha's - only it had the cutest llama ever on it!"  
Startled, Chicha practically dropped her project.  
"Is something the matter?" Nhutalu asked.  
"Oh, no, it's . . . uh . . . Just a shame you don't know who he is."  
"It doesn't matter," Nhutalu pointed out gloomily. "It's not like I'll ever see him again. He was leaving the village."  
  
Nhutalu sat at Pacha's family's pond, gazing up at the unobstructed view of the darkening sky. Far off in the distance, almost too far to see, was the emperor's palace, backlit by the setting sun.  
Just a little way from Nhutalu, Pacha and Chicha stood, whispering to each other so quietly that Nhutalu could not overhear them.  
"We have a problem," Chicha informed her husband, taking his hands.  
"Uh oh . . . What is it?" Pacha replied, concern wrinkling his forehead.  
"Nhutalu fancies herself a Virgin of the Sun."  
Pacha blinked. "What?"  
"She ran into Kuzco when she was on the way in. She really seems to like him."  
"Oh no . . ."  
"Yeah . . ."  
"Wait - how do you know it was him?"  
"Pacha, Sweetie, Kuzco could not have described himself better than SHE described him!"  
Pacha burst out laughing; not necessarily because of what was happening, but because of the way Chicha said it.  
Nhutalu glanced back at them with a sigh. She had not heard what they had been discussing but still felt as if Pacha's laughter was aimed at her. She looked back down at her feet as they poked out from under her skirt.  
"It's not fair . . ." She mumbled.  
A few moments later, Chicha approached Nhutalu, gently putting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you coming to bed?"  
Pacha's laughter still rang in Nhutalu's ears. "If you don't mind . . . I'll stay out here for a little while longer."  
"Okay . . . Goodnight." Chicha smiled, giving Nhutalu a quick hug before going inside.  
Nhutalu glanced back at the sky, catching a star streaking down toward where she had seen the palace when it was still daylight out. She closed her eyes, squeezing tears down her cheeks, and made a wish.  
  
"I've never felt this way about someone," Nhutalu explained, watching Chicha stuff Pacha's bag with some necessities. "I would never have thought this 'love-at-first-sight' thing was for real."  
"I was just saying," Chicha replied as gently as she could, "that you barely even spoke to him."  
"Maybe the guy's a big jerk," Pacha added, taking the bag from Chicha and closing it. She glared at him pointedly. "I said maybe," he muttered.  
"We just don't want you getting hurt, Talu . . ." Said Chicha.  
Nhutalu swallowed hard. "You think I could get hurt?"  
"With love, Talu, it's always a possibility," Pacha said, patting Nhutalu on the shoulder. "I'm off to the palace, Chicha, as you insisted." He gave Chicha a sweet kiss and turned to the door.  
"The palace?" Nhutalu stood quickly. "What for? Can I go?"  
"I'm just delivering some goods from our village - really boring stuff. Besides, it's a four day walk and you were just traveling - stay here, rest, keep Chicha company and help with the kids. . . . If you don't mind."  
Nhutalu nodded sadly. "No . . . I don't mind."  
With that, Pacha waved good-bye and left.  
  
Emperor Kuzco lounged on his throne, staring up at the high ceiling of his palace. Pacha was supposed to have shown up that morning. The sun had traveled its full path across the sky but still there was no sign of Pacha. Kuzco was starting to worry; not so much for Pacha's well-being but for the realization he would have to face his chore of choosing a bride by himself.  
But something else made him even more concerned. He constantly thought about the peasant girl he'd run into but the more time that passed, the less he could remember about her. He sighed, absently playing with the hem of his right sleeve. There was a loose thread, he noticed. But instead of jumping up to yell at his tailor to fix it, he imagined that the peasant girl could. His recollection of her was too fuzzy. If he ever saw her again - would he even recognize her? Did any of this even matter?  
And why was he being forced to pick a bride? He was the emperor -- Emperor Kuzco. He could just abolish the rule entirely! That thought made him smile - if only a little. It was a stupid rule, anyway.  
Kuzco was beginning to grow drowsy, his eyelids drooping as he stared at the ceiling.  
"Hey - you're not falling asleep on the job, now, are ya?" A hearty voice echoed through the throne room.  
Kuzco sat up with a start upon hearing the voice and leapt from the throne, racing to greet Pacha. "You had me scared for a minute there, buddy - I didn't think you were gonna make it!"  
Pacha smiled. "I almost didn't make it - Misty can be surprisingly stubborn sometimes."  
"Well, I'm glad you're here."  
Pacha opened his mouth to speak but then closed it quickly.  
"You were gonna say something?" Asked Kuzco, leading Pacha from the room. "I'll bet you're hungry."  
"Yes I am." Guiltily, Pacha added, "And no, I wasn't going to say anything . . ." He had wanted to tell Kuzco about Nhutalu but knowing what loomed right ahead, Pacha doubted Kuzco needed to hear that. He also could not shake the feeling like it would open a giant basket of worms.  
"Well, let's see if we can get you something to eat," Kuzco grinned. "I can't have my favorite peasant being hungry, now, can I?"  
  
Having been quite restless all the previous night, Nhutalu took her leave of Chicha, the children, and their house, early in the morning. It was a particularly beautiful day out, and everyone seemed more than well aware of it. Children were coming out to play, most of them heading for whatever water they could find. Nhutalu declined the many invitations she received to go swimming, hoping to take the time to figure out where everything was located in Chicha's and Pacha's village.  
Toward the lower reaches of town, near the pond where she and Kuzco met, Nhutalu found a giant, extremely muscular man sunbathing. He was sprawled out, a swath of cloth shielding his eyes, and was snoring fairly loudly. At his feet laid a beautiful, small, white cat - also asleep. Her tail twitched slightly, and the tiny movement was enough to catch Nhutalu's eye.  
She smiled and continued her walk - but only for a few feet. The beautiful cat had awakened and was following her closely.  
"Aww," Nhutalu chuckled, picking the cat up gently. "I guess you like me, huh? Well, I can't keep you . . ."  
The cat mewed only somewhat convincingly.  
Nhutalu blinked. "Um . . . Oookay, you're going back to your owner before you creep me out any further . . ."  
The cat began purring quite loudly, and rubbed her cheek against Nhutalu's arm.  
"You're not changing my mind that easily, cutie." Nhutalu went back over to the sleeping sunbather and cleared her throat.  
He awakened instantly, sitting up stiffly. "Wha - wha - huh?"  
Nhutalu jumped slightly, almost dropping the cat. "Oh, I'm sorry to wake you!"  
He pulled the cloth from his eyes and rubbed them before greeting Nhutalu. "Well hello!" He smiled at her cheerfully, extending a hand. "You're new here, aren't you?"  
She nodded, slowly taking his hand and juggling the cat. "I'm Nhutalu," she introduced herself.  
"Hi - I'm Kronk," he replied. Taking the cat, he said, "And this is Yzma."  
Yzma glared at Kronk, leaping from his arms and walking over to Nhutalu's ankle. Blinking, Nhutalu took a quick step backwards. "Did I just . . . see . . . the cat glare at you?" She asked Kronk.  
He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, uh . . . She's . . . uh . . . really expressive."  
"Uh huh . . . Well . . . Um, it's nice to meet you, Kronk, but I'd better be going . . . And again, sorry to wake you."  
"Actually, I'm glad you did - I had to turn over anyway. You saved me from tanning my chest more than my back. How embarrassing that would have been!"  
Nhutalu forced a smile at him. "Yeah. Well, g'bye."  
Kronk waved after her for a moment -- before his pretty little pet extended the claws of her left paw and swiped at his calf. "Ow!" He cried, sitting down to nurse the wound that had instantly started to bleed. "What was that for?! I give you enough catnip!"  
"You fool!" The cat hollered. "She was perfect! I could've gotten her to take me to the palace!"  
Kronk shook his head, chuckling slightly. "You're not still hung up on wanting to kill Kuzco, are you?"  
"NO! I just want to be human again!"  
"Riiight, Yzma," Kronk said, lifting an eyebrow at the cat. "I'm not as gullible as you may think." Suddenly he remembered the cloth he'd used to shield his eyes from the sun and wrapped it around his ankle to soak up the blood from his scratch. "H-hey!" He smiled, thoroughly proud of himself. "That was a good idea!" With that, he laid down on his stomach, and with his head resting on his arm, went back to sleep.  
The cat sighed and circled a spot at Kronk's side for a moment before settling down again beside him. But this time she did not fall asleep immediately. Instead, she watched through narrowed eyes, the peasant girl Nhutalu walking away down the path. She would have been perfect.  
  
Pacha stood just outside the palace, his arms crossed tightly in front of his chest to help block the chilly morning air.  
The dawn was every bit as beautiful at the palace as it was at his home. But despite basking in the warm glow of the rising sun, Pacha could not muster a smile. Today was the day Kuzco was forced to choose a bride. Having chosen Chicha out of his love for her, Pacha felt horrible for Kuzco. The whole ordeal didn't seem fair.  
The calming morning silence was broken when Kuzco came charging for Pacha.  
"Pacha! Pacha!" He cried frantically.  
Pacha whirled around to face the young emperor, his heart leaping into his throat. "What is it? Are you okay?"  
"I can't remember what her hair was like!" Kuzco yelled. Suddenly he latched onto Pacha's poncho. "Was it straight or wavy?!"  
"Straight," replied Pacha without thinking.  
"Oh, thank you!" Kuzco heaved a heavy sigh of relief, letting go of Pacha. Less than a moment later, Kuzco turned back to his friend. "How did you know?!"  
"Lucky guess?" Pacha said uncertainly.  
Kuzco frowned. Something was decidedly fishy.  
After a moment, Pacha frowned as well. He couldn't have been asking about Nhutalu.  
"Are you hiding something?" Kuzco asked.  
"No," Pacha replied defensively. "But is there anything that you want to tell me?"  
"No," said Kuzco, equally defensive.  
"Then it's settled."  
"Yes it is."  
"Good."  
"Very good."  
"Um . . . Excuse me . . . Uh . . . I don't mean to interrupt you, but . . . Emperor Kuzco, they're here." One of Kuzco's servants gently broke in.  
Pacha watched Kuzco sadly. The look on his face was somewhere between extremely agitated and completely heartbroken. "I'm here with you," Pacha reminded him.  
"Fine," Kuzco sighed. "Let's get this over with."  
Kuzco went to his throne and settled down, Pacha sitting on the cold, unpadded stone beside him. "Are you ready for this?" He whispered to Pacha. "Bring them in," he called to the servants who awaited his command.  
One by one, the girls filed in. Kuzco tried not to flinch as he watched them.  
All together, there were ten young women - three more than the previous year - and all roughly Kuzco's age. They stood in a line, all with their hands clasped together in front of them. They all wore the same white dresses, their hair styled similarly. Not one of them looked particularly unpleasant or plain.  
Pacha turned to Kuzco. "They're not nearly as bad as you made me think they were," he said quietly.  
"Oh?" Kuzco replied, sincerely shocked. "Okay, let's go from left to right. The first one, her face is too long. The second one's nose is too skinny. The third is obviously too tall for me. The fourth," he shuddered, "she's the one who tried to strangle me last time."  
"What about the others?"  
"Hate the hair, looks cross-eyed, too chubby, ergh, too boxy! And the last two must be twins."  
"So . . . Why not pick one of the last two?" Asked Pacha.  
"Because they're both the plainest ones in the group." To his servants, Kuzco ordered, "Take them away." He turned back to Pacha. "I'm thinking of sending the tall one the rejection letter with the hearts on the envelope."  
"Yeah, yeah," Pacha agreed solemnly. "She seemed like she was nice enough. And maybe by next year you'll have grown some more and she'll be shorter than you . . ."  
"But . . . Emperor Kuzco, your highness," one of the servants spoke up shyly.  
Kuzco glanced down at him and then noticed that the line of girls had not been removed. "What?" He replied impatiently. "And why are they still here?"  
"You have to pick a bride, your highness," the servant whispered, now cowering.  
"No," Kuzco snapped, jumping from his throne. "No, I don't. Not until you find me something different!"  
"But . . . But . . . What's wrong with these girls?"  
"They're all the same," Kuzco said diplomatically. "Try someone different next time, okay? Maybe . . . someone with big, deep dark eyes and long silky black hair that gently curls under that the ends . . . Someone thin but who doesn't look like I'd break her if I hugged her tenderly."  
The more and more Kuzco described the type of girl he wanted, the paler Pacha got. It was Nhutalu. It had to be.  
"So until you find me someone like that, I am not choosing a bride," Kuzco decided, storming out of the room.  
Pacha sighed, running his hand down his face.  
  
"And from here," Chicha said, setting her empty basket down, "we take the newly picked fruits and vegetables back up the hill to be cleaned."  
Nhutalu nodded, only barely paying attention. If she glanced up to the right, she could see the beautiful hills rising above her, Pacha's hut the ornament on the tallest peak. But to her left, the palace stood clearly in the distance. Pacha was there. "Uh huh," she mumbled. It had to be nice to be at the palace, amongst all the riches and extravagance.  
"Talu?" Chicha asked gently.  
"Huh?" Nhutalu answered faintly.  
"You seem a bit preoccupied. Is something the matter?" Chicha kneeled down then and began pulling the ears of corn from the lower half of the stalks.  
Blushing, Nhutalu kneeled down beside Chicha. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "Usually I don't daydream this much."  
Chicha smiled. "It's okay, don't apologize. After all . . . you don't need to help me do this but you're helping me anyway."  
"I do what I can."  
"Pacha will be surprised when he gets back," Chicha mentioned.  
"Why did he go?"  
"He, uh, went to talk with the emperor . . . About how well our crops are doing."  
"Do you think he'll bring anything back for us?"  
Chicha chuckled. "You're just as bad as the kids! . . . And you never know. He just might!"  
  
That evening, Nhutalu sat in the front yard of Pacha and Chicha's house, a basket full of corn right in front of her. The sweat on her face was just starting to dry but her hands were growing red and blistered. Picking another ear of corn from the basket, Nhutalu paused and glanced through the open door and into the house where Chicha was preparing dinner. She sighed and resumed cleaning the corn.  
When Nhutalu set out to visit Chicha and Pacha, she didn't envision spending her time helping with the crops. Not that she minded - after all, she had volunteered to help. Her mistake was assuming that she wouldn't be completing the chore by herself.  
After husking half the corn in the basket, Nhutalu leaned in the doorway of the house. "Chicha?" She asked quietly.  
"Yes?" Chicha replied, setting the dish she had in her hands down.  
"I'm . . . um . . . I'm gonna go down to the pond to wash up."  
"Okay . . . Hurry back, Sweetie." Chicha glanced down at the pile of corn Nhutalu had husked and gasped. "Oh, wow . . . Thank you for your help!"   
Nhutalu smiled graciously and quickly headed down to the pond.  
The setting sun probably made Nhutalu's raw hands look even worse than they actually were. She gently washed them in the cool water, shivering and flinching at the same time. It was a strange feeling. "Ow . . ."  
"Are you hurt?"  
Nhutalu looked up. No one was there. "Okay, now I'm hearing things." Before going back to cleaning up, she noticed the pretty white cat who'd tried to follow her around before. "You ran away again, huh?" She asked.  
"No," the cat replied.  
Nhutalu promptly screamed.  
The cat approached Nhutalu slowly, her tail gently - almost seductively - swishing left and right.  
"Get away from me, Demon-cat!" Nhutalu shrieked.  
"But I need your help!"  
"I don't care! This is wrong!"  
"Please!"  
"No -" Nhutalu backed up so much that she banged her heel into the stones that kept the pond in its nice, pleasant, raised pool. She crumpled against the short stone wall, grabbing her ankle and hissing in pain.  
"Listen to me - you're the only one who can help me," the cat said, slowly approaching Nhutalu where she had fallen.  
"Why me?" Wailed Nhutalu. "What's so special about me?"  
Wryly, the cat replied, "I often wondered the same thing."  
Nhutalu furrowed her eyebrows, shaking her head in disbelief. The whole talking cat thing was unreal.  
"Listen, girl," the cat snapped suddenly. "You must take me back to the palace!"  
Nhutalu gaped at the cat. It was not so much her demeanor that startled Nhutalu, but the opportunity to go to the palace. "Well - why would you want to go there?"  
The cat settled down at Nhutalu's feet with a sigh. "Because. I'm really the emperor's bride!" She paused for a second, looking around apprehensively. "Kronk stole me from the palace over a year ago. I was supposed to marry the emperor - I'm sure he'd be ever so grateful if you returned me to him. Mmmaybe even give you a rrreward."  
"But - a cat?"  
"Freak accident, yeah," the cat explained quickly. "Something I'll be sure to never let happen again."  
Nhutalu rested her forehead in the palm of her hand. "I don't know the way to the palace . . . I - I just got here!"  
"I know the way," the cat reassured her. "I'll guide us!"  
"But . . . what do I tell Chicha?"  
"Hmm . . ." The cat stood and began pacing around. "I didn't think about that . . . I suppose you couldn't just leave . . ."  
"No," said Nhutalu flatly, narrowing her eyes at the fraudulent feline. "I suppose I couldn't."  
"Of course not."  
"I could tell her the truth -"  
"No! I mean, no - we don't want Kronk to find out - he would come to steal me again!"  
"Oh."  
"Tell her . . . Tell her that one of the royal guards has summoned you to the palace."  
"Why would they do that?"  
"Tell her you don't know why," the cat said, clearly annoyed with Nhutalu. "Not everyone who gets an invitation to the palace gets an explanation why. I'm sure Chica-"  
"Chicha-"  
"Right, Chica - I'm sure she knows that."  
Nhutalu sighed. It was her chance to see the palace and to be someone's hero. She couldn't pass up on opportunity like that. "How far is the palace from here?"  
"Four days," replied the cat. "But we must hurry. The emperor will have to pick a new bride if I do not return - this could be any day now!"  
Nhutalu stood, already forgetting about her bruised heel and raw, blistered hands. "Let me get some of my traveling goods and we'll be on our way!"  
  
Chicha gaped openly at Nhutalu.  
"The guard is waiting down by the pond to escort me," Nhutalu finished, biting her lip nervously.  
Chicha then did the last thing Nhutalu expected; she smiled.  
"Chicha?" Nhutalu whispered.  
"Follow me." Chicha took Nhutalu's hand, leading her toward one corner of the house. "I have something for you."  
"What?"  
"Here." From her pile of wool, Chicha produced a gorgeous crimson poncho. "It's a little something I've been working on since you got here."  
Nhutalu gasped, taking the poncho. On the front was a beautiful white llama. "Chicha - you - you shouldn't have!"  
Chicha smiled. "Wear it in good health on your trip!" Then she began prodding Nhutalu to the door. "Now we don't want to keep the emperor waiting, do we?" She asked, a bit too happily.  
"No . . ."  
"Be sure to have fun! If you see Pacha, give him a big hug for me!"  
Slipping the poncho on, Nhutalu cast a glance back at the house. Chicha stared after her from the doorway, an almost dreamy look on her face.  
Once out of direct view of the house, the talking cat emerged from the brush beside the path where Nhutalu was walking.  
"Did she believe you?" The cat asked,  
"Yeah," Nhutalu replied solemnly. "She did."  
"Good. Let's get out of this wretched village."  
Nhutalu frowned at her feline companion, beginning to walk a little faster.  
  
"Mommy! Mommy?" Tipo tugged on the hem of Chicha's poncho. She scooped him up quickly, smiling at Chaca, who had emerged from their room as well.  
"Where's Talu?" Asked Chaca.  
Setting Tipo down at the table, Chicha explained, "Well, your father went to talk to Emperor Kuzco a few days ago."  
"I remember that!" Tipo piped up.  
"Well, I guess he must have told the emperor that Nhutalu liked him because the emperor sent for her!"  
"Are Emperor Kuzco and Nhutalu gonna get married?" Chaca asked hopefully.  
Chicha laughed. "I don't know. Maybe."  
"That would be really neat cuz then Nhutalu would be an empress!"  
"Would that mean we'd be royalty, too?"  
"And then could we live in the palace?  
"And have the chef make us real food?"  
"Very funny, Chaca. Stop listening to your father's opinions on my cooking." Chicha's smile grew. "Or else I'll let him cook for you."  
"Ew!"  
"Gross!"  
Chicha laughed, then went back to making dinner for the children and herself.  



	3. 

Chapter Two  
  
"He's more than the laughter or the stars in the heavens  
As close a heartbeat or a song on her lips  
Someday she'll trust him and learn how to see him  
Someday he'll call her and she will come running  
and fall in his arms and the tears will fall down and she'll pray,  
'I want to fall in love with you'"  
  
~By Jars of Clay, "Love Song For A Savior"  
  
The cat was curled up into a little ball close to the fire, every so often twitching in her sleep if an ember landed in her fur.  
After staring into the fire for so long that her eyes were strained and watering, Nhutalu glanced down at her poncho. Chicha's work was downright exceptional. But Nhutalu felt bad, running her fingers over the llama design in the garment. She didn't mean to mislead Chicha into thinking that she liked llamas. She did. But when she said she loved the llama on the peasant boy's poncho, she meant she loved it not because it was a llama -- but because he was wearing it.  
Nhutalu sighed, glancing at the cat. The feline knew the jungle surprisingly well, as if she had a mental map of its meandering trails.  
Every so often along the way, there would be a clearing in the canopy which would allow them a clear view of the palace. The two travelers would stop -- only momentarily -- to admire it.  
As it turned out, the cat made a surprisingly good companion. She acted like a total lunatic sometimes, but Nhutalu found that entertaining. And on a whim, Nhutalu decided that she wanted to learn how to laugh like an evil genius. The cat seemed more than happy to teach her. It was all in good fun -- anything to make the trip go faster.  
As the journey was going on its last day, Nhutalu was finally beginning to acknowledge the cat as something more than just a talking animal. Nhutalu considered her a friend and was eager to help free her of her feline body. She never imagined that she would become comfortable with addressing the cat as Yzma -- but it had happened.  
  
Pacha sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose slightly. "Look, Kuzco, they need you here." He groaned. "I never thought I'd say this -- I don't want to feed your ego further -- but you can't leave!"  
Kuzco crossed his arms over his chest. "Either I go back to the village with you or I go back by myself."  
"Don't start this again!" Pacha cried. "You said it yourself, you nearly get killed each time you do that!"  
Kuzco smiled. "Then go back with me and save me the trouble of almost dying. Consider yourself a hero."  
"Kuzco, running away won't solve anything."  
"Sure it will. Do you really think they'd send the whole barrage into the jungle after me?"  
Kuzco had a point. Pacha hated when he did that. Despite that, he smiled, an idea lighting his face. "Fine, you can come back with me -- if you promise to help with the crops."  
"Of course I'll help!" Kuzco said.  
As they were on their way sneaking out, Pacha mumbled to Kuzco, "You know, I don't trust your promise."  
Kuzco smiled, patting Pacha on the back. "Good. Now I don't have to feel guilty about not keeping it."  
Pacha glanced at Kuzco out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, looks like I'm still making progress on you -- at least you would have felt guilty!"  
Kuzco laughed.  
  
Yzma stopped dead in her tracks, her fur standing up on end instantly.  
"Yzma?" Nhutalu asked, stopping just behind the small gray cat.  
"Follow me, I know a secret entrance!" Yzma hissed, suddenly bounding headfirst into the dense foliage that ran beside the trail.  
Pacha and Kuzco were approaching quickly from the opposite direction, on that very same path. But Nhutalu did not see them. Instead, she followed Yzma as best she could, her overwhelming fear of getting lost strangling her.  
Kuzco, however, did see the blur of crimson as Nhutalu darted out of their way.  
"Did you see that?" He gasped.  
Pacha shook his head. "Don't get delusional on me. Is it your low blood sugar again?"  
Kuzco didn't answer. Instead, he dived into the foliage after Nhutalu.  
  
"Yzma--" Nhutalu panted. "Please slow down! You're running on four legs -- I've only got two!"  
"We're almost there!" Yzma screeched.  
Nhutalu dodged branches as best she could, using her arm to shield her face from the merciless lashings. Perhaps it was a good thing she could not see what was in front of her -- otherwise she never would have had the bravery to follow Yzma.  
  
Screaming as she had never screamed before, Nhutalu got her second wind -- being chased down a narrow passageway by a reptilian creature twice her size with endless sharp teeth gleaming in its mouth. Yzma the cat hissed at it from her safe place in Nhutalu's arms. As they neared an entryway, Yzma yelled at her.  
"Turn around! Kick it!"  
"What?!" Nhutalu cried. "It'll eat my foot!"  
"Trust me! That always worked for me!"  
Yzma had not yet steered Nhutalu wrong, so she turned, giving the creature a swift kick right between the eyes. It yelped and immediately scurried away from her.  
Yzma leapt from Nhutalu's arms, activating a lever that brought a door down to block that entry. From the lever, the cat jumped to the floor and trotted back over to Nhutalu.  
"Please tell me the worst is over!" Nhutalu begged her.  
Yzma smiled. "It is. Oh, is it ever over!"  
Nhutalu blinked at her response. "Uh . . . Okay . . . Now what?"  
"You need to get me out of this body."  
Sarcastically, Nhutalu replied, "Oh, is that all? Well gee, you make it sound so easy."  
Yzma glared at her. "Do as I say . . ." She warned.  
Nhutalu frowned.  
"You need to make a potion for me."  
"I need to what?!"  
"I'll tell you how. I'd do it myself but --" Yzma held up her front two paws, "I can't!"  
Nhutalu flinched. Unfortunately, it seemed like the only way.  
Magic turned out to be much more boring than Nhutalu would have guessed it would be. In order to keep herself from daydreaming, she began playing games with the ingredients of the concoction she was making for Yzma; giving them more appropriate names according to fragrance or color.  
It was not long before Nhutalu was handing a bottle of bright pink potion to Yzma the cat.  
Yzma stared at it, almost in disbelief, as tears filled her eyes. Then she closed them and downed the drink in one gulp.  
Nhutalu turned away, too scared to see the reaction. There was a shrill scream, causing her to clench her eyes shut.  
Then, an entirely different voice began screaming, "It worked! Oooh, it worked! I'm me again!"  
Nhutalu gasped and turned back to Yzma. She instantly yelped in surprise, taking a step backwards. Trying not to stare at the thing of unspeakable ugliness, Nhutalu said -- as gently as possible --, "Um, Yzma? I . . . don't know how to say this, but . . . You were a lot better looking as a cat . . ."  
"Didn't your mother ever tell you that if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all?" Yzma snapped.  
Nhutalu cringed, whispering, "I'm sorry . . ."  
  
Kuzco frowned, avoiding Pacha's eyes. He wanted to apologize but seriously could not figure out on what basis he should. He hadn't done anything wrong. Yet.  
"We're a whole day behind because you decided to search the jungle for something you imagined. We might as well just stay in the palace." Pacha was mildly perturbed as he glanced back at the gigantic building. It was easily a five minute walk back.  
"I saw her," Kuzco insisted. "And we're not going back there!"  
Pacha rolled his eyes. "Who did you see?"  
"Her! The girl that I met when I was leaving the village!"  
Pacha blanched. It couldn't have been Nhutalu. Sure, she had wanted to see the palace but there was no way Chicha would have let her go. "Now I know you're seeing things. Maybe you'd better get to sleep. Don't want your imagination to get the best of you."  
At the chuckling, Kuzco pouted. Pacha didn't believe him.  
  
Yzma stood before Nhutalu, now fully dressed in a surprisingly elaborate bluish-purple dress with a huge open fan on the back. It reminded Nhutalu of a peacock somehow, but she couldn't quite place why. It was fitting for an empress, she decided.  
Yzma did not thank Nhutalu for her assistance. At least, she did not do so in a conventional way. As far as Yzma was concerned, what she did was not only a proper show of gratitude, but it was also a big honor.  
"Fetch me Emperor Kuzco!" She demanded.  
In disbelief, Nhutalu replied, "What?"  
"Go out, retrieve Emperor Kuzco and bring him back to me!"  
"This is the thanks I get?" Gasped Nhutalu, taking a small step away from Yzma.  
"And what have I to thank you for?"  
Enraged, Nhutalu screamed, "Everything!!"  
Yzma calmly regarded Nhutalu. "You will get me Kuzco."  
"Over my dead body!"  
"Is that a request?"  
At the sound of the two women fighting, one of the palace guards made his way down to Yzma's 'secret lab.' He silently peered in through a crack in the wall, only to see what he least expected: Yzma, human again. After the whole cow incident, he did not wish to see her; but there she was, nonetheless.  
  
Just as Pacha was about to fall asleep, he heard the sound of footsteps fast approaching. He opened his eyes only to find one of the palace guards looming over him. The guard looked particularly eerie at night, the light from both moon and smoldering fire casting strange shadows across his blue and red body paint.  
"This is as far as you got?" The guard scoffed.  
"It's not my fault," Pacha replied, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Are you here to take Kuzco back?"  
The guard frowned. "No. Actually, I'm here to tell you to take him -- hide him!"  
"What? Why?"  
"Yzma's back!"  
"What?!" Cried Pacha, jumping to his feet. "But how?!"  
"I don't know, but I saw her and I know she's looking for him!" The guard pointed to Kuzco, who was curled up beside the fire in a deep sleep. "Hide him and make him change his name! Protect him however you can!"  
Pacha frowned. "Why would he need to change his name?"  
Almost calmly, the guard told him, "You and I both know Yzma doesn't get the brightest people to find him! All it would take is for him to say that his name is not Kuzco and they'll believe him and go off looking elsewhere!"  
"Good point . . ." Pacha nodded, grabbing his stuff frantically. "If we all live through this, I'll make sure Kuzco gets you a good promotion."  
The guard smiled. "If I see her coming this way, I'll stop her." With that, he turned and headed back up to the palace.  
"Come on Kuzco, wake up! It's time to go!"  
"No touchy," Kuzco groaned, swatting at Pacha's hand while still half asleep.  
"Yzma's back!"  
Kuzco woke up with a start, leaping from his spot. "What?!"  
"Yzma's back and she's after you!"  
"But how?" Cried Kuzco.  
"Who knows -- who cares? We just have to get out of here!"  
  
"Gotta get out of here, gotta get out of here!" Nhutalu gasped. The guards were already on her heels, having been told by Yzma that she was the one who had kidnapped the emperor. "Where's the exit?" She sobbed, barely able to breathe.  
Despite her fatigue, Nhutalu was running so fast and was so focused on finding an exit that she did not notice the countless statues of the peasant boy looking down at her.  
  
The sun was just beginning to rise over the hills and the dew on leaves and flowers sparkled, shimmering as a gentle breeze licked them. But neither Pacha nor Kuzco could enjoy the beauty of the sunrise.  
"We've been walking since last night -- can't we stop to rest now?" Kuzco asked. " . . . Since you won't carry me?"  
Pacha blinked. It had been a long time since he'd heard Kuzco sound that childish. He must have been more exhausted than Pacha realized.  
"Yeah -- yeah, I guess we should be okay now." Pacha decided, settling down at the base of a giant tree.  
"Oh, good!" Kuzco exhaled, practically collapsing a few feet away from Pacha.  
After a moment, Pacha decided he wanted to ask Kuzco about the peasant girl he'd met while leaving the village. "Kuzco?" He asked quietly. When there was no response for a few moments, Pacha glanced over at him. Kuzco was already fast asleep.  
  
Nhutalu awakened with sweat dripping down her face; the sun was shining right on her, entirely unobstructed. She stood slowly, peeling the perspiration-soaked poncho off of herself. Although she had been running all night, her sweat was from the heat and not from the physical exertion.  
Tired and dehydrated, Nhutalu set back to traveling a path she didn't know. She was frightened but, at that point, had no choice. Well, there was another choice. Nhutalu just decided that facing possible death was better than facing Yzma.  
Nhutalu frowned, wiping the sweat and tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. Yzma had used her. She'd betrayed her, lied to her and hurt her. Worse than that, Nhutalu had lied to Chicha for her. With a scream of frustration, she kicked at the dirt.  
Yzma had sent the palace guards after her; told them that she had kidnapped the emperor. It didn't make any sense to her. "Like I'd have any influence over the emperor," she mumbled to herself, "let alone be able to kidnap him!" Nhutalu turned around, roughly in the direction of the palace. "You'll be sorry!!" She screamed. "You just watch!!"  
With a sigh, Nhutalu turned back around, looking sorrowfully at the path ahead of her. Resolutely, she decided she would make the four-day-long journey in three days.  
But even if it was a four-month-long journey, Nhutalu knew she would still have no idea what she would tell Chicha when she got back.  
  
"Is anyone here?"  
Chicha glanced up from the new baby, Manco. She shook her head slowly. That couldn't be who she thought it was. Then she spotted the glowing smile in the front entryway.  
"Kuzco?!" Chicha cried, scooping Manco up in her arms and racing over to him. "What are you doing here?"  
Pacha appeared just behind Kuzco, his face wrinkled with worry. Chicha's smile faded instantly when she saw him. Before saying anything, she peered around both of them. Then she asked, "Where's Talu?"  
"What do you mean?" Replied Pacha. "Is she not here?"  
"I thought she was with you!"  
"Why?"  
Chicha swallowed hard. "Excuse us," she told Kuzco, pulling Pacha aside.  
"You didn't send for her to go to the palace?" She whispered anxiously.  
Pacha's eyes widened. "No . . . Is that where she went? Why?"  
"She told me that one of the guards told her that the emperor wanted to see her -- I thought you told him . . ."  
"I didn't, he didn't and --" he gasped suddenly. "I'm going back to get her!"  
"Pacha?"  
"Yzma's back there, Chicha. The potion must've worn off because she wasn't a cat anymore! That's part of the reason he came back with me!"  
"Is something wrong?" Kuzco called from the doorway.  
"Well, you can't go back there, Pacha! Don't think she won't want to take out her revenge on you, too!"  
"I can't just leave here there!"  
Kuzco frowned. Neither of them had even heard him. "I'm going down to the pond," he said, "if anyone cares."  
"Then what do we do?" Chicha asked, her eyes filling with tears.  
"We'll think of something; we just have to be calm about this. Maybe we can send Kronk after her."  
"Kronk?!" Chicha began sobbing. "After everything that's happened between the two, I wouldn't be surprised if Yzma killed him on the spot!"  
  
Nhutalu had succeeded in making it back to the village in three days, but at the expense of her strength. She was so hungry that she felt nauseous and so thirsty that her whole body shook. She was soaked all over, her poncho so wet that she could practically wring it out. But it was all worth it: she had made it -- alive -- to the village.  
Never in Nhutalu's life had a pond looked as inviting as the one at the foot of Pacha's village.  
"Water," gasped Nhutalu, dropping to her knees and submersing her head entirely, almost getting the edge of a lily-pad in her eye. She didn't care.  
Kuzco approached the pond at the foot of the village in the hills and stopped when he noticed that someone was already there. He hesitated for a moment, not wanting to bother her. Then he remembered that he was the emperor and proceeded.  
As Kuzco bent over to get a drink from the pond, he was shocked that the other person didn't acknowledge him at first.  
Slowly and shakily, Nhutalu lifted her head , her wet hair clinging to her cheeks. Water slid down her neck, soaking her clothing even further.  
Kuzco watched her, gaping. This couldn't be the same girl he'd met at that exact same pond before -- but it certainly looked like her. "Are you okay?" He asked softly, shyly reaching out to her.  
Just before he touched her, she passed out, falling just beside the pond.  
"Pacha!" Kuzco yelled. He turned around only to see Pacha running down the hill. "Pacha, help!"  
"I can't --" Pacha panted. "I have to go get --" he stopped mid-sentence and dead in his tracks. "Nhutalu!"  
  
Nhutalu awakened slowly, her head pounding. Chicha was hovering over her, helping to cool her with cold, wet cloths on her forehead.  
"Nhutalu?" Chicha whispered.  
Nhutalu was back in Chicha's and Pacha's home. It was dark out, and very quiet. The kids must have been asleep.  
"I made it!" Nhutalu gasped.  
"Oh, you're okay!" Chicha pulled Nhutalu into a hug. "I was so worried about you!"  
Nhutalu glanced across the room, spotting Kuzco and Pacha talking with each other. She gasped. "He's here!"  
Chicha furrowed her eyebrows. "Do you know who he is?"  
"No--" Nhutalu grew giddy all of a sudden. "But that's the peasant boy I met!"  
"Pacha!" Chicha cried, getting up from her spot beside Nhutalu instantly.  
Pacha rushed over to them. Straining to stretch far enough to whisper in his ear, Chicha informed him, "She doesn't know who he is!"  
"I thought she did!" He replied with wide eyes.  
"No!"  
Suddenly, Pacha hurried back to Kuzco.  
"Is she okay?" Kuzco asked coolly, attempting to conceal his concern.  
"Um, well, yeah . . ." Pacha replied slowly, glancing away from Kuzco. "D'ya think you could join me outside for a moment?"  
  
"You want me to what?" Kuzco growled, watching Pacha pace back and forth in front of him.  
With a sour chuckle, Pacha replied, "Now you feel bad about lying . . ."  
"Doy."  
"Look -- it's just until we figure out what Yzma's doing!"  
"But -- but --" Flustered, Kuzco groaned. "Why can't we just tell her? You know, explain what's going on and she can play along with everyone else!"  
"Kuzco . . . Nhutalu didn't come here to live with us. She's just visiting. I don't want to burden her with all of this and she doesn't deserve to be brought into this mess!"  
Kuzco stared at his feet. Pacha was -- as usual -- right. But he began to wonder if there was some way to make sure Nhutalu never left. Once this whole thing with Yzma blew over, he could tell her the truth and then they would live happily ever after.  
It all seemed too easy.  
"Look --" Pacha gently rested a hand on Kuzco's shoulder. "I'm going to hold a meeting with the rest of the villagers tomorrow. I'll let them know about the situation. That is, if you're willing to do this."  
"Do you think they'll all help hide me? I mean . . ." He dropped his head sheepishly. "Even after that whole 'destroying your village' thing?"  
Pacha smiled. He really did feel bad about that, then. Good, it was nice to see that the boy had a conscience. "You let us all play in your pool, so . . . I'm sure they will."  
Kuzco drew in a deep breath. "Okay, then. What fake name should I choose?"  
  
Despite being completely wiped out from her trip, Nhutalu was back out in the fields in less than one weeks passing. She worked beside Chicha and kept abnormally silent. Her guilt was eating her up inside and she could not shake the feeling that she should tell someone that it was she who took Yzma back to the palace and it was she who gave Yzma the potion that cured her of being a cat.  
The whole village was talking about it, that Yzma was hunting for the emperor. No one seemed to know exactly what happened to Kuzco; only that he was not in the palace.  
Nonetheless, Nhutalu felt as if she had unwittingly unleashed the worst evil in the world. There had to be other evils, worse evils. But this one was too close to comfort. Why hadn't Kronk warned her? No, she should have known. A talking cat had to be -- at least inherently -- evil. It seemed painfully obvious now.  
Nhutalu sighed, putting her face in her hands.  
Chicha noticed that she stopped working. "Talu?"  
"Yes?"  
"I . . . um . . . you can go take a break if you want to."  
"I'm fine," Nhutalu lied, slowly removing her hands from her face.  
"You sure?"  
Nhutalu nodded silently.  
"Okay, well, I'm taking my basket up to the hut before it gets too heavy for me." With that, Chicha stood, hefting the basket up onto her shoulder. "Don't strain yourself, okay, Talu?"  
Nhutalu nodded yet again, watching Chicha head toward the hills. Then she resumed her shore of cleaning the ears of corn from the nearest cornstalk. Corn silk tangled around her fingers and as she tugged to get it off, it seemed more determined to cut off her fingertips. Too wrapped up in the drama of the situation, Nhutalu did not notice the shadow suddenly looming over her.  
The next thing she knew, her whole world had gone black by a pair of hands -- and the guessing game ensued.  
"Pacha?" Nhutalu asked.  
The hands blocking her sight tightened ever so slightly, but there was no verbal response.  
"Chaca?"  
Silence.  
"Tipo?"  
At that point, Nhutalu noticed the frogs croaking from the nearby pond.  
"Chicha?"  
In a moment of pity, the hands were removed from Nhutalu's face. But instantly, a pair of dark eyes appeared in her field of vision.  
Kuzco was leaning over her upside-down, grinning from ear to ear. "Nope, nope, nope and nope!"  
"Cusi!" Nhutalu gasped, ducking out from under him. "You surprised me!"  
Kuzco's grin softened to a smile as he plopped down beside her. "So . . . what's all this?" He motioned to the plants around them.  
"It's corn!" Nhutalu laughed. She waved one un-husked ear at him.  
Kuzco seemed delighted with this new information. "I haven't tried this type yet!" He eagerly plucked a corn cob from Nhutalu's basket.  
"This type? What do you mean? Cusi, this is the only type of corn we have --" She stopped, her jaw dropping as she watched Kuzco take a bite out of the cob, still with its hair and husk and all.  
He looked at her, his eyes bulging and just beginning to water. It was all Nhutalu could do to keep from laughing. Struggling to swallow it, he made a face as if he'd just eaten a clump of grass. Nhutalu flinched as he gagged -- it wasn't too horrible a sound; she just felt extremely bad for him.  
"You didn't need to do that to impress me," she pointed out gently. "Honest."  
"Yes I did," he choked.  
Nhutalu cocked her head to the side, smiling. "Here, help me." She pulled an ear of corn from the nearest stalk and handed it to Kuzco.  
He looked first at Nhutalu, then at the corn, and back at Nhutalu again. "Um . . . Aaand what am I supposed to do with this?"  
"Husk it, silly!" Nhutalu playfully swatted at Kuzco's shoulder.  
Kuzco glanced at the vegetable au naturel, stunned. He -- emperor, ruler of all, king of the world -- did not know how to do something!  
Nhutalu looked at Kuzco, taking note that he was not doing anything productive with the corn. "Oh -- I'm sorry -- I don't mean to be so rude! Cusi, please help me."  
With a stroke of brilliance, he replied, "Ladies first."  
Smiling and her face flushing, Nhutalu went back to work. Kuzco studied her movements carefully and after the third ear of corn she husked, he finally attempted to husk his own.  
"What do you think?" He asked, presenting the cleaned cob of corn.  
Nhutalu took it, picking a few stray strands of corn silk off of it with her fingernails. "Boy, you act as if you've never done this before!" She joked.  
"Yeah . . ." Kuzco laughed nervously. "Yeah."  
"Well," Nhutalu smiled, holding the cob up to inspect it, "this is one of the nicest ears of corn I have ever seen."  
"Really?" He asked eagerly.  
"Really!" She handed him another ear of corn.  
"Another one?!"  
"You know, as much as I've begged them, these things never husk themselves . . ."  
"You're mocking me."  
"No." Standing up to stretch, Nhutalu informed Kuzco softly, "I just find it very endearing, the way you're acting."  
"The way I'm acting?"  
"Well, yeah! As if you've never worked a day in your whole life. It's really cute!"  
Kuzco smiled as much as he could. "Oh. Well . . . Um . . . Thanks."  
After a moment of watching Kuzco in silence, Nhutalu glanced at her basket. It was full enough that she would not feel like she was wasting a trip taking it up to Pacha's to be cleaned. Drawing in a deep breath, Nhutalu bent over and attempted to hoist the basket up onto her shoulder.  
Kuzco watched the struggle, wide-eyed, before suddenly jumping to his feet and steadying the basket as it wobbled dangerously atop Nhutalu's slender shoulder blade. "What are you doing?!"  
"I'm taking the basket back to Pacha's," Nhutalu grunted.  
Before she could figure out what Kuzco was doing, the basket was barely balanced on his shoulder.  
"Cusi --" she gaped. "That's my job!"  
Kuzco simply smiled, and with his arms trembling beneath the weight of the basket, turned to make his ascent to Pacha's home.  
  
His brow soaked with sweat, Kuzco practically allowed the basket to fall on his foot when he set it down. With his chest heaving in spasms, he gasped to himself in disbelief, "What am I doing?!"  
Nhutalu watched him stare down at the basket of corn cobs in disdain. "You're being the sweetest man I've ever met," she whispered to him in awe.  
Kuzco glanced at her, startled. "What?"  
Something deep inside Nhutalu provoked her to do the last thing either of them would ever expect. She leaned over the basket and gave Kuzco a short, soft kiss on the mouth.  
After the initial shock wore off, Kuzco briefly put his hands to his face, concealing both smile and blush. Removing them, he glanced back at her, still smiling. Nhutalu, by then, had just realized her actions as well, and her face flushed even darker than his. "Um, thank you."  
And Kuzco, then, spoke the two words he'd never had to use before: "You're welcome."  
  
Yzma looked over her cabinet, a small smirk playing on her thin lips. There remained no sign of the encounter with Kuzco, Pacha and -- the traitor -- Kronk; she had replenished her myriad of poisons in her spare time. And, given that she had plenty of spare time, Yzma was able to improve upon some of her recipes. Not that she planned on ever actually using them. The vials were more of an emergency "remedy" -- to certain situations that might pop up out of nowhere. Situations like Kuzco. He would cause a kink in her plans -- especially if he came back. The odds were that he would, and he would bring Pacha and some horrid plan to defeat her. But she could not allow them to do that. Not this time.  
But at least now that she'd restocked her supply of poisons, she could get back to what really mattered: finding that recipe for the youth serum. Her father had had it, but when he'd died, he'd taken it with him. Though she was a high-priestess, the thought of communicating with the dead was something that didn't particularly appeal to her.  
She was a girl no older than ten years of age the last she spoke with her father. But she had been an attentive daughter, memorizing what she could in the time he'd been around. But -- as most girls her age -- Yzma had no use for a potion with that type of effect. It would be many, many, many, many years before she gave thought to that recipe again. But by then, the ingredients were mere shadows of what she once knew and it was as if she never knew them at all.  
Yzma would have aged gracefully; perhaps not in looks but in her attitude toward growing old. But constantly being harangued about her withering visage by one particular person did not help her. As hard as she tried to ignore and deny it, it always hurt her, even to that day. But maybe that was because the relentless teasing never let up.  
She clung to her youth as much as she could by getting herself the youngest boyfriends she could possibly obtain. Her last one, Kronk, had been the youngest -- probably because he was so nice; too nice to reject her. Or maybe he thought he could change her, bring some light into her dark life. Yzma couldn't think about it anymore -- it was beginning to sting too much.  
Nothing stung her more than thinking back to when Kuzco first began joking about her age. He was only about seven and she had been taking care of him for a couple of years by then. Twelve years had passed since that first comment he'd made and still she could remember it, as if he was saying it now.  
Yzma glanced at the llama-shaped cactus which sat on the table amidst all of her glass tubes, and she smiled.  
Perhaps turning Kuzco into a llama had not been initially what she had had in mind. But in hindsight, seeing Emperor Kuzco in that state of being had at least been entertaining. And enough time had passed that she could laugh at her folly. Even if her laughter was still a bit on the bitter side.  
One of Yzma's guards joined her in her no-longer-very-secret lab about the time she was going to attempt another recipe for her youth serum. He cleared his throat to alert her of his presence, uncertain how he was to properly address her.  
Impatiently, she acknowledged him. It looked as if he had bad news and that -- of course -- was something she didn't want or need to hear. "What?!" Snapped Yzma.  
Nervously, he answered her, "We searched everywhere and --"  
"No, wait, let me guess," she interrupted sourly, pinching her nose tightly at the bridge between thumb and index finger. "You couldn't find them."  
"Them, Yzma? Er, your highness -- er, emp . . . ress?" His voice trailed off to a tiny squeak; quite humorous considering how large of a man he was.  
"Kuzco and Nhutalu," Yzma groaned. "Who else?"  
The guard's face flushed. "Was I supposed to . . . know . . . that?"  
"YES!" Yzma screeched.  
Dropping his head in shame, the guard pointed out, "I'm sorry, I am kinda new here -- I was only hired yesterday . . ."  
"Likely excuse," muttered Yzma, turning away from him.  
At the same time this annoyed her, this was also probably for the best. If Kuzco was hiding well enough from Yzma's search parties, that probably meant he was too busy simply hiding to be actively thinking of ways to retaliate against her. Yzma tapped her chin thoughtfully. He had to be with Pacha. But the nagging thought that she should just leave well enough alone for the time being kept plaguing her. Sighing, she turned back to the guard. "Call off the searches and prepare the masses for another Kuzco funeral," she ordered him.  
"Yes, Empress Yzma," the big, burly man replied, obeying as if he was wrapped around her pinkie.  
Yzma watched him make a hasty exit. Once alone, she assured herself, "This will be the last of his eulogies I ever give."  



	4. 

Chapter Three  
  
"I had no choice but to hear you,  
You stated your case time and again,  
I thought about it . . .  
You treat me like I'm a princess,  
I'm not used to liking that.  
You ask me how my day was . . .  
You've already won me over in spite of me,  
Don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet . . ."  
  
~By Alanis Morissette, "Head Over Feet"  
  
Kuzco paused mid-sentence, putting his hand up to his nose. "Weird . . ."  
"What's weird?" Asked Nhutalu. Then she felt something cold streak down her forehead.  
"It's raining."  
"It is?" Nhutalu glanced up to the sky. It was so dark that despite the nearby candlelight, she could barely make out Kuzco's features although he stood only about a foot in front of her. "Oh -- why didn't I notice that earlier? No wonder there are no stars out -- it's so cloudy!"  
Kuzco glanced up as well and took notice of the same thing. A few more raindrops came down, these heavier than the previous. "I'd better let you get inside," he told her, "before you get sick."  
"But what about you?"  
"I'll be fine, I'm the emp--" Kuzco caught himself just in time but was so stunned over almost slipping up that he could not continue.  
"Cusi?" Nhutalu asked slowly. "What?"  
"Um --" he sighed. "I'll . . . I'll be fine."  
"Come inside with me," Nhutalu insisted, taking Kuzco's hand gently. His skin was surprisingly soft, as if he never did hard labor, but the simple sensation was enough to send jitters through her, every bit as much as kissing him earlier that day did.  
"I probably shouldn't," Kuzco protested feebly. He obviously disagreed with what he, himself, was saying.  
  
Chicha sighed, leaning on Pacha heavily. She wanted to tell him something but could not figure out the best way to break the news to him. She had felt that way since Nhutalu returned from the palace and watching her interact with Kuzco from the entryway to their house, it merely confirmed Chicha's hunch.  
"Chicha?" Pacha whispered, glancing down at her and putting his arm around her waist. "Are you okay? You seem preoccupied."  
"Pacha, Sweetie -- I don't know how to say this . . ."  
"Is something wrong?" Worry strained his voice.  
Fairly convinced that there was no better way to put it, Chicha decided to take the most direct approach. "I think," she whispered, "that I have to agree with Kuzco on this one."  
Pacha, at first, thought he'd heard incorrectly. Then he wondered what exactly Chicha thought Kuzco had been right about. In either case, a one word response sufficed. "What?"  
"I think Kuzco was right. I think he should have told Nhutalu who he really is."  
"But she doesn't deserve to be brought into this mess," Pacha explained, much the same as he'd done to Kuzco. "Besides, after it's over, he'll tell her the truth."  
"She may never trust him again."  
"Besides, you and I both know she's leaving in a week or two so she'll probably never even find out."  
"If she does?"  
"I bet you she'll be even happier knowing he's the emperor."  
"She did seem eager to meet the emperor," Chicha said thoughtfully. "But no matter, I think they're both going to hurt themselves. We should tell them."  
"No." Pacha nodded toward the two figures facing each other, out in the steadily pouring rain. "Let them enjoy themselves for now."  
To that, Chicha agreed.  
  
Nhutalu pulled Kuzco toward Pacha's house. "I'll bet you they have something really fun for us to do until the rain lets up."  
Kuzco thought it would be fun to tell Nhutalu who he really was. But he knew Pacha and Chicha would not support his decision. In lieu of that, Kuzco could not think of anything fun they could offer him.  
Chicha forced a smile at both Nhutalu and Kuzco as they reached the door of the hut. She greeted them, ushering them inside. "Now, now, don't stay out in the rain!" She offered them cloths to dry off with and guided them to the fire so they could warm up. "I don't remember the clouds rolling in, today."  
"It was all very sudden," Nhutalu agreed. "I was outside longer than you," she looked at Kuzco, "and you," then glanced at Chicha, "and I didn't even notice them."  
"They came in later in the afternoon," Pacha said. Then, with a sly smile, he told Nhutalu, "You were probably just a little preoccupied." As Nhutalu's face flushed, Pacha turned to Kuzco. "And you, if I noticed correctly, kept your promise."  
Kuzco's eyes grew wide. "What?"  
"I believe you promised you would help us," Pacha reminded him.  
"I didn't --" Kuzco began to protest. Then he remembered carrying Nhutalu's basket of corn up to the house for her. "Oh. I guess I did." That felt good -- actually keeping the promise. Perhaps he'd have to get into the habit of doing that.  
"Speaking of promises, I promised Cusi that you had something fun for us to do," Nhutalu told Chicha.  
Chicha frowned. "No . . . We have nothing fun that I can think of -- offhand." Then she smiled, winking at Nhutalu.   
"But I'm sure we'll come up with something," Pacha said, not catching Chicha's expression at the moment.  
At about that time, Tipo came racing into the room, followed on his heels by Chaca.  
"I had a dream that it was raining!" Chaca squealed.  
Trying to stifle her laughter, Nhutalu gently pointed out, "It is raining!"  
As Chaca tried running to the door, Chicha just barely caught her. "No, no, Sweetheart. It's very dark outside. If it's still raining in the morning, then you can go out to play."  
"Aw . . ."  
Tipo, remaining abnormally silent, approached Nhutalu.  
"Tipo?" Nhutalu asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"  
"I had a dream you got to kiss the emperor."  
Nhutalu found it more difficult than she'd ever imagine to not laugh at Tipo's statement. It was just as difficult not to make a comment; she didn't want to tell him how silly the idea was in fear of hurting his feelings.  
Chicha was more than willing, however, to silence her son. "Don't be silly, Tipo," she laughed rather uncomfortably. But as both she and Pacha glanced at Kuzco, they realized that another one of their son's dreams had been true.  
Kuzco, now a very pale shade of pink, had taken a sudden interest in his hands. Chicha and Pacha knew then, that for as long as they had been watching Nhutalu and Kuzco from the house, they had obviously not seen the whole thing.  
Trying to convince herself as well as her son, Chicha said, "It was only a dream." As much as Chicha wanted to find out what had happened while she was absent from the cornfield, she knew it was none of her business.  
Nhutalu took the opportunity -- while both Chicha and Pacha took their kids back to bed -- to scoot nearer to Kuzco. He still looked very shaken. She reassured him, gently rubbing the top of his hand, "You're the only one I'd ever kiss, Cusi. Besides . . . why would the emperor ever want to kiss me?"  
"Oh, I'm sure I could think up some reasons," Kuzco replied flatly.  
Nhutalu glanced at him, trying to decipher his strange expression. "Look . . . I'm sorry about earlier . . . I didn't mean to. I guess I was too forward."  
Kuzco glanced at her, a smile appearing on his face and the blush growing darker again. His shade change would have gone unnoticed by anyone else but the way Nhutalu studied him, she could clearly see it.  
"It's awfully quiet down here," Pacha said, his voice hushed. He joined Kuzco and Nhutalu on the floor, offering them both small blocks of wood. "I thought we could make a few more toys for the kids until the rain eases up."  
"You want me to make a gift for that little troublemaker?" Kuzco complained, giving Pacha an extremely pointed look.  
"He's not a troublemaker," Nhutalu giggled. "And if you don't want to, then you can make something for Chaca or Manco and I'll make Tipo's new toy."  
Kuzco only marginally agreed when Chicha joined them as well, bringing her newest crocheting project with her.  
"He still insists it was real," Chicha said, shaking her head slightly. "That boy's got such an imagination, sometimes."  
"I wonder where he gets it," Pacha smirked, glancing at Chicha.  
"Oh, I don't know," Kuzco jumped in. "Maybe from the guy who insisted that the emperor had to have a decent bone in his body."  
"He doesn't?" Nhutalu asked, surprised.  
"He didn't use to . . ." Kuzco took a carving knife from Pacha, and handed another one to Nhutalu.  
"Yes, he did," Chicha said softly, glancing at Kuzco. "He was just afraid to show it. Maybe he was just scared that showing he was nice would mean that he was also vulnerable."  
"Do you all know the emperor personally?"  
Chicha and Pacha both told Nhutalu yes, but Kuzco said no.  
"I wish I'd gotten to meet him." Nhutalu realized that if she hadn't made the mistake of helping Yzma out of her cat-hood, she might have had the chance to see the emperor. The longer that she thought about it, the more she wondered if that whole 'being the emperor's bride' thing was even true.  
No one responded to Nhutalu's statement but it didn't bother her. She was too busy watching Kuzco carving away at his rectangular piece of wood. He was enjoyable to watch, to say the least, especially when he was deep in concentration. His brows were furrowed and a tiny spot of pink poked out between his lips at the corner of his mouth. Nhutalu could not tell what he was making from the wood yet, but it looked like it was going to be elaborate.  
Kuzco glanced up at Nhutalu, catching her eye. While momentarily distracted, he took another swipe at the wood block with his knife but missed it entirely.  
"Cusi!" Nhutalu cried. "Your hand!"  
Kuzco glanced down, an expression of complete puzzlement on his face. He'd seen blood before, when it was required for him to give a drop or two to bless the crops for the yearly festival. But this was different. The cut had not been intentional, and on top of that, he'd inflicted it upon himself by accident. It didn't make sense. And it was more painful than it probably should have been; especially considering what pain he was comparing it to.  
He stared at the wound as his blood began dripping on the floor of Pacha's house. No matter how he tried, he couldn't seem to understand what had just happened.  
Perplexed, Kuzco commented, "That wasn't supposed to happen."  
"Are you okay?" Nhutalu gasped, watching Kuzco's face go white. The cut was not particularly wide but it was deep and long. And he was losing quite a bit of blood by not covering it.  
While both Nhutalu and Kuzco were completely useless in the situation, Pacha had already gone to get something to cover Kuzco's hand and Chicha went to get a bowl of water to clean the floor with.  
Kuzco watched Nhutalu, dumbfounded, as Pacha wrapped his hand up. It proved not to be the easiest task since the incision was in that peculiar place between his thumb and index finger.  
"Maybe you oughtta lay down," Pacha suggested. "You don't look good."  
Nhutalu frowned. He always looked good. But she agreed with Pacha, he was extremely pale and that wasn't right.  
Pacha helped Kuzco over to the fire, making sure he actually laid down. Nhutalu quickly moved and sat down beside him.  
"You gonna be okay?" She asked softly.  
Kuzco half moaned, half whined an unintelligible response.  
Chicha went to work cleaning up the floor, keeping a concerned eye on the injured emperor.  
"Wh-- what are you doing?" Kuzco managed to ask.  
Chicha glanced at him, startled. "I'm cleaning up! Why?"  
"But -- I -- I blessed your house! And you're getting rid of it?"  
Pacha's face instantly drained of the remainder of its color. "Ixnay on the Uzcokay!" He hissed pointedly.  
Nhutalu furrowed her eyebrows and Kuzco frowned at Pacha.  
Carrying the bowl of water and the now blood-soaked cloth, Chicha disposed of them both in their backyard. After a moment, she told everyone with a long yawn, "I'm going to sleep. Kuz -- Er, Cusi, will you be okay?"  
Kuzco's eyes were open mere slits but he still managed to nod slightly.  
"Come on." Pacha gently took Chicha's hand. "Good-night, you two." He led her from the room. As they approached their own bedroom, Pacha asked, "Was it a good idea to leave those two alone?"  
Chicha almost giggled, rolling her eyes at Pacha. "What are you thinking is going to happen?"  
Pacha smirked, closing their bedroom door after Chicha. "You're not a guy -- you wouldn't understand."  
Back in the main room of the hut, Nhutalu watched Kuzco sadly.  
"Good-night," she told him, unable to tear her eyes from him. She waited for a response for a few moments before realizing that he was already asleep.  
  
Nhutalu awakened with a cramp in her neck. The room was filled with the silver glow of the moon as it shined from just barely above the horizon. The fire had died down considerably and now what remained was one glowing log, a few embers glittering from hollow parts within the wood. By the moonlight and glow from the dying fire, Nhutalu could see Kuzco.  
He was motionless, the cloth on his right hand entirely dampened with the blood from his cut. Nhutalu didn't know the dynamics of potentially fatal wounds, but she thought he had bled to death when she didn't hear him breathing.  
It was an indescribable relief when Nhutalu caught the slight rising and falling of Kuzco's chest, though her pulse raced for quite a while afterwards. It turned out that he was just a very sound sleeper.  
Nhutalu crept over to Kuzco and sat down in front of him. He didn't make a sound, didn't move and his breathing was so deep and quiet that Nhutalu had to stare hard at his chest to be sure that he was breathing. Not that she minded staring at him.  
The fire snapped every so often, but other than that, it was eerily silent. The rain had stopped sometime while they had been asleep and the sky had cleared. But Nhutalu could smell the wet ground and still felt the moisture in the air when she inhaled. There was a certain feeling that the world was fresh and new after it rained.  
Or maybe that feeling was something Kuzco's presence did to her. Slowly, Nhutalu reached out for him. She hesitated to touch him, her fingers lingering just above his forehead. In that moment, she admired him, the shadows cast from both moonlight and smoldering fire playing attractively across his face. Then she stretched a little further, brushing Kuzco's hair off his forehead lightly.  
Although he didn't stir, Nhutalu sat back, suddenly overwhelmed with guilt. Then she realized that he was probably the type who wouldn't wake up even if a herd of llamas stampeded directly over his face. So she leaned over to him again, gently playing with his hair. After a few moments, she sat back again, pulling her legs to her chest and resting her head on her knees. He looked so sweet as he slept and Nhutalu thought, with a big smile, that he would look even sweeter with a small childhood toy in his arms. Her smile faded, though, as she glanced down at his right hand. That had been her fault. It was then, as she realized she would not be able to go back to sleep, that she knew it was going to be a long night.  
  
Nhutalu sat in the rain-dampened grass, watching Pacha's flock graze around her. None of them acknowledged that she was there, all too busy enjoying the tall grass of the rolling field.  
Pacha had been the first to wake up that morning and as he was getting ready to take his llamas out, she offered to do it for him. Anything was better than harvesting that evil corn and since no one knew she was out there, it gave her the solitude she wanted.  
"Hey, who's the new llama?" A gentle voice asked from just behind her.  
Nhutalu smiled but didn't glance up. "A talking llama?" She guessed. "Now I've heard everything . . ."  
Kuzco chuckled, sitting down beside her. "No, but you could say I speak the language."  
"Hi," said Nhutalu, turning to him.  
"Hey."  
"How'd you sleep?"  
"I, uh . . . I slept well. Thank you for the scalp massage." The people at the palace could never have done it better.  
Nhutalu looked away from him guiltily, her face flushing instantly. "I thought you were asleep."  
"I liked it."  
She fell incoherent for a moment. "So, you speak llama, huh?" She changed the subject quickly when she realized there was simply no way to respond to his compliment. At least, no way she felt comfortable doing.  
Kuzco smirked. "Sure I do! I can do everything! Watch this!" He got to his knees and made his way over to the nearest llama. "Hey!" He greeted the llama. "So, how are you?" He paused for a moment, allowing it to 'reply.' "Oh, her?" Kuzco glanced back at Nhutalu. Proudly, he informed the llama, "That's Nhutalu. She's with me!"  
Nhutalu broke into a smile. He was proud to be with her? This was good news.  
After a moment, Kuzco gasped in contempt, giving a mock glare at the llama. "Oh, shutyourmouth! She's my princess!"  
She looked at him, very startled. "Cusi?"  
"Huh?"  
"I'm your princess? Really?"  
Slowly, as if he couldn't understand her shock, Kuzco replied, "Well . . . Yeah . . ." Glancing once more at the llamas, he narrowed his eyes. They knew who he was. They could snitch on him. No, perhaps he was just being paranoid. The llama he had previously 'spoken' to stared back at him blankly. These llamas were no more likely to tell Nhutalu who Cusi really was than the walls of Pacha's house would. But when hiding a secret that big from a girl that special . . . Kuzco felt like anyone and everything would tell her. Just as long as he was the one who got to break the surprise to her, he didn't particularly care how or when. But being so full of angst about the whole thing took some of the joy out of spending time with her. Only some of it, though.  
"Cusi?" Nhutalu asked gently, softly putting a hand on his arm.  
"Yeah?"  
"That was very sweet what you said about me."  
"Would it help if I said I honestly believe it?" He smiled. At least, he knew he could make it the truth. If she accepted. Well, of course she would accept the title -- but would she accept what that title entailed?  
Nhutalu smiled. " . . . I can't imagine why you'd believe it . . . But Cusi, I'm very flattered." After a hesitation, she added, "You're my prince."  
Instead of just happily accepting the compliment, Kuzco began thinking of how nice it would be to take that opportunity to tell Nhutalu the truth. It would have been the world's easiest segue, too. Oh, and by the way, you're pretty much right -- I'm actually Emperor Kuzco. Prince, Emperor -- same thing.  
When Kuzco didn't say anything in response, Nhutalu cocked her head to one side and stated the obvious: "You seem preoccupied."  
"I'm just thinkin'," he replied, pulling some grass from the dirt. Examining the thin strips of shimmering green plant, he asked, "So why'd you come out here?"  
"I needed to get away," Nhutalu replied honestly. "Not away from you -- I just . . . I needed time to think."  
"Wanna talk?"  
Nhutalu wanted to talk with him; after all, she trusted him. But her guilt over unleashing Yzma on the world again was practically suffocating her. Besides, she couldn't bring him into the mess -- it was all her fault.  
Biting her lip slightly, she told him, "I guarantee it wouldn't make me feel any better."  
"Oh."  
"It's not you." After a moment, Nhutalu asked, "Why are you out here?"  
Kuzco smiled at her bashfully. "Pacha mentioned that you didn't get breakfast." He moved a small basket out from behind himself. "So I thought I would bring it to you."  
Nhutalu's eyes widened and she was barely able to tell Kuzco, "Cusi, you are the most considerate person I have ever met."  
Even after saving Pacha's life, Kuzco had never once heard those words spoken to -- or of -- him. "What?"  
"Hey, here, lay down." Nhutalu instructed him, taking the basket and putting it down so that it rested against her thigh.  
"What for?" He asked warily.  
Suddenly filled with a strange surge of vivacity, she told him, "You'll see! Now, now just lay down." To assist him with this suddenly complicated task, Nhutalu pushed gently on Kuzco's chest.  
With wide eyes, he watched as she scooted over to him. "So. What do you want to start with? Peanuts or --" Nhutalu inspected the basket once more. "Peanuts or figs?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"You were nice enough to bring this to me, so . . . I figure I'd thank you by feeding you." Boldly making the decision for him, she picked up the smallest fig from the bowl in the basket and gently rested it on his lips. "So . . . Thank you."  
  
Yzma sat in deep thought, tapping a long, blood-red fingernail against her lips. This decision was far more difficult than she had originally anticipated it would be. No, it was only because this time she decided to be more picky. This time she'd choose one with a brain. This time -- he wouldn't be even remotely as cute as Kronk. But after what she went through with him, Yzma grudgingly decided that having half a brain was better than being good-looking. But what was her hang-up on him, anyway?  
Suddenly, Yzma stood up. "Have them come back tomorrow," she told one of the servants.  
The girl glanced between Yzma and the line-up of the seven assorted young men. "Your majesty?"  
"Have them come back for the test tomorrow," she snapped.  
Mutters of surprise and general disagreement rose from the line-up.  
"No one said anything about a test," one of them actually gathered the courage to complain.  
"And no one said you could interject!" Yzma glared at him. She made the mental note then that that particular one would not cooperate well. That could easily interfere with her plans. "You," she decided, extending a bony finger out to him, "You will not come back tomorrow."  
That particular man seemed all too happy to leave the line-up. The others stood silently, most too apprehensive to object to what was happening. None of them understood why they had been chosen, especially considering that Yzma was practically three times their age -- if not older.  
Glancing once more down the line of young men, Yzma told them, "Come back tomorrow, the rest of you." To her servant, she demanded, "Get me a quill and parchment. Now!"  
Five minutes later, Yzma sat at a table in her 'secret lab,' a llama shaped cactus on the table top beside her. She twirled the quill between her fingertips for a moment before writing.  
Number one. Do you speak to woodland creatures?  
Number two. If told to kill someone, would you have to first consult your conscience?  
Number three. Do you like spinach?  
Number four.  
  
Yzma paused, scratching her nose with the end of the feather.  
Do you have multiple personalities that come out in the form of a shoulder angel and shoulder devil?  
Number five. Do you like to cook? If so, how good are you?  
Number six. Can you distinguish between a drawing of a llama and a drawing of a skull?  
Number seven. Would you take a four day long walk to kidnap someone and bring her back to me?  
  
Nodding, Yzma decided that was a good enough test of character. Surely it would help her avoid making the same mistakes she made with Kronk.  
  
Chicha was attempting to concentrate on the task at hand. Washing the dishes should have been simple but Chaca and Tipo were making it otherwise. They were racing around the hut -- from the backyard to the front yard, from room to room. Every so often, one or the other -- or sometimes both of them -- would brush by Chicha's skirt. Baby Manco was in a pack behind her, squealing happily and pulling her hair. In truth, Chicha was just grateful she wasn't doing a chore that required more of her focus. On top of the kids, Pacha had just arrived home, as well. Not that he demanded a lot of her attention; she just got easily distracted when he was around.  
"Hi, Sweetie," he greeted her, kissing her cheek softly. "I see you're keeping busy."  
Chicha giggled. "You can tell?" She asked him with a big wink.  
"Don't let the kids bother you too much."  
Just then, Tipo and Chaca ran by again. "Hi Daddy!" They cried in unison, both jumping up on him.  
"Where's Nhutalu?" Chicha asked, glancing up at Pacha. "Is she down in the crops? It's got to be really muddy down there --"  
"She's out with the llamas, actually."  
"Pacha!" Chicha cried. "The llamas are your responsibility!"  
"Calm down -- she volunteered to do that."  
"Oh." She brightened. "Nevermind."  
"Where's Emperor Kuzco?" Tipo asked his mother.  
"Cusi," Pacha reminded Tipo. "We're calling him Cusi right now, remember?" Then he answered, "Cusi's with the llamas."  
"They're together?" Asked Chicha, mildly surprised.  
Pacha smiled. "Nhutalu offered to take the llamas out to the field early this morning. Later, when Cusi got up, he offered to take some food to her."  
Slowly, Chicha smiled as well. "That's sweet! They're good kids, you know . . ."  
"Mom?" Chaca leaned over from her spot in Pacha's arms and tugged at Chicha's sleeve. "Can Nhutalu stay here forever?"  
Chicha's smile faded. "I'm afraid not . . . She's going to have to go back to her mom and dad . . . fairly soon, unfortunately."  
"Aw!" Chaca and Tipo both whined, instantly launching their protest.  
"Make her stay!"  
"Can we beg her to stay?"  
"Maybe if we pouted--"  
"Do you think we could find a reason for her to stay?"  
" -- We could say the llamas will miss her --"  
"I'll miss her!"  
"I will!"  
"I will more!"  
"Will not!"  
"Will so!"  
"Will not!"  
"Will so!"  
"Will not!"  
"Will so!"  
"Mom!" Tipo and Chaca cried in unison.  
Chicha smiled calmly at her two older children. It was all she could do when they fought like that. But she turned to Pacha and told him, quite sadly, "Cusi's going to have his heart broken. And there's really nothing we can do."  
"Just what he needs," Pacha grumbled. "Especially right now."  
  
"Have you ever been to the palace?" Nhutalu asked, guiding Misty back into the barn.  
"Yeah," Kuzco replied without thinking.  
Nhutalu frowned. "But I thought you said you never met the Emperor."  
Oops. "Oh -- I . . . I didn't meet him," Kuzco told her, cringing. "But I was there."  
"Oh."  
"Just curious, but . . . Why the fascination with the palace, anyway?" Kuzco asked Nhutalu after a moment. Even after he got the question out, he wondered if it was the proper thing to say at the time.  
Nhutalu smiled slightly, closing the barn door once both she and Kuzco were back outside. "I'm not so sure, to be honest. It's . . . always kinda been like . . . This forbidden place that just seemed too good to be true. I always wanted to know if it really was that way . . ."  
Kuzco shrugged. "It's nice, I guess, but . . . probably gets really lonely."  
"Why?"  
"Well, think about it . . . All those servants and loyal subjects but . . . like any of them really care. They'd be that loyal to anyone wearing the crown." The fact that Yzma had gained power was proof enough of that unfortunate fact.  
"That's sad."  
"It's true."  
"How do you know?"  
"I've seen it," Kuzco replied, shrugging simply.  
Nhutalu frowned. "I . . . really couldn't imagine. I've always had my family and my friends." All two or three of them.  
"You've been lucky."  
"I guess."  
Kuzco blinked. "You don't think you've been lucky?" He asked.  
"I never really thought about it back then. And now, well --" she drew in a deep breath. "Now I know what I was missing. So in hindsight, no, I don't think I was. And I know at the time, I didn't think I was, either. I guess. It's really strange to describe the whole thing but that's pretty much it. Yeah. I guess." Nhutalu giggled slightly.  
Although he was lost in all that she said, paying more attention to her lips moving than to the words coming from them, Kuzco managed to catch what she was basically getting at. He smiled slightly, gently taking her hands. "So you feel lucky now?"  
"While I'm still here," she answered.  
Kuzco's smile faded. "Pacha told me about that. Nhutalu, do you have to leave?"  
"I --" she blinked back tears. "I'm afraid so . . . Cusi, this is not my home."  
He glanced away from her. "I understand." But the truth was, he really didn't.  
"Cusi . . . When I promised my family that I'd go back home, I never imagined I would be leaving someone like you behind. If I'd known, I'd have said good-bye to them for good."  
  
"I bet the llamas just love you now," Pacha told Nhutalu, speaking around the food in his mouth at dinnertime.  
Nhutalu paused before eating a small piece of bread. "Huh? Why?"  
"You stayed out in the field with them all day," he said.  
"Oh!" She chuckled. "Hey, that's no problem. I enjoy spending time with the llamas."  
Smiling, Pacha glanced at Kuzco and muttered, "That explains it."  
Kuzco glared at him but didn't respond.  
Chicha looked between the two of them and cleared her throat pointedly.  
In the moment of silence, Nhutalu glanced out the window. The rosy hues of the sunset streamed through it, marking the end of another day.  
"Ooh, come on!" She stood up suddenly, grabbing Kuzco's wrist.  
"Where are you going?" Chicha asked. "You didn't finish your dinner!"  
"We'll be back in a bit." Nhutalu pulled Kuzco from his seat, leading him into the backyard.  
"Talu?" Asked Kuzco, when he was outside and alone with her.  
"I wanted to show you the most beautiful thing ever," she replied.  
Kuzco smiled slyly, looking at her. "Why did you take me out here for that? I could see you better inside."  
She blushed. "No, no. Take a look at this." Nhutalu pointed, out across the backyard, to the palace off in the distance. The sun was just behind it, giving it a heavenly pinkish halo.  
Kuzco gasped, gazing at his palace from afar. He'd never even wondered what it looked like from the outside, and couldn't have imagined it was that breathtaking. He wished he'd seen it like that sooner, that maybe it would have given him a better sense of how the rest of the kingdom saw him. But as he stood there, Nhutalu standing in silent awe beside him, he slowly began to realize why she felt that way about the palace.  
"Wow," he whispered.  
Nhutalu smiled. "Beautiful, isn't it?"  
"I've never seen it this way before . . ." After a moment, he glanced down at her. She looked like an angel, the hues of sunset gleaming in her eyes and off her hair. Shyly, he put his arm around her waist.  
Sighing, she moved closer to him and leaned against him. "Cusi?"  
"Yeah?"  
Out of nowhere, she began sniffling. "I'm . . . I'm really going to miss you."  
  
Nhutalu fell asleep that night in Kuzco's arms as they sat together in front of the fire to keep warm. Perhaps it was what Chicha cooked for dinner or the fact that her subconscious vehemently disagreed with her decision to leave but Nhutalu had the strangest dream she'd ever had. In this dream, she'd been turned into a Persian cat, one very similar to the one Yzma had been.  
She was wandering through the palace, glancing up at the eerie statues which glared down at her. Every so often she would pass by one of the palace guards who would sneer down at her with as reproachful a scowl as he could muster. Despite all of that, Nhutalu kept walking, trying to proudly keep her whiskers high in the air. As she walked, the palace seemed to be growing darker -- she was just barely able to make out a figure in the distance. It was a petite girl, one that may have been a few years older than Nhutalu. The girl approached Nhutalu and stooped down to attempt to match her height.  
"Your highness?" The girl asked, confused.  
Nhutalu frowned, attempting to reply. You must be mistaking me for somebody else. All that escaped was a series of pitiful mews.  
"Not again!" The girl scooped Nhutalu up into her arms, standing swiftly. The sudden displacement made the small gray cat dizzy for a moment. As she tried to steady her head, Nhutalu glanced up at the girl. She was dressed all in white with a wide golden collar that extended from her neck down to her sleeves and covered the majority of her chest. She had a peculiar headdress that seemed to emphasize her extremely square face.  
"Don't worry," she attempted to reassure Nhutalu. "We'll get this fixed." As the girl carried her down the vast halls of the palace, Nhutalu kept a wary eye on her. The girl's hair fell over her shoulder and brushed against the feline's cheek. Despite the thick fur covering her face, it still tickled her.  
  
Slowly, Nhutalu awakened, brushing at her face. Kuzco was kneeling beside her, tickling her cheek with the tips of her own hair. "Good morning!"  
Nhutalu smiled slightly, sitting up and stretching in her spot.  
"Did you sleep well?" Asked Kuzco.  
"Sorta," she replied honestly. "I just had a really strange dream."  
"Tell me all about it . . ."  
  
Yzma cleared her throat. "Potential crony number one." The young man furthest to the left in the line-up stepped forward nervously. "Do you like spinach?"  
The young man made a face and replied, "Yech! No!"  
"You may stay for now. Potential crony number two?"  
The second young man took a step forward. "Yes?"  
"Do you have multiple personalities that come out in the form of a shoulder angel and shoulder devil?"  
He glanced at his left shoulder and muttered, "What? You think I should lie?" After a moment, he looked back up at Yzma. "Nope. Can't say that I do!"  
Yzma frowned. He'd obviously lied about it, which meant that he did have them. But because he lied, that meant that he probably disregarded his shoulder angel -- which was where Yzma thought Kronk had his problem. Suddenly, she turned to the third bachelor. "You --" she pointed at him. "Same question!"  
He glanced at the bachelor directly to his left and shrugged. "Who doesn't?"  
"Out!" Yzma yelled. "Both of you!"  
Four young men remained.  
The third from the last was the next to be addressed. "Do you speak to woodland creatures?"  
"Fluent in it," he replied proudly. "Junior Chipmunk, got all my badges and everything!"  
It occurred to Yzma that he could be lying, thinking that answering positively would earn him the position. But who in his right mind would lie about something like that?  
"Get out," she growled dangerously.  
The next one in line hesitantly stepped forward.  
"Would you take a four-day-long walk to kidnap someone and bring her back to me?"  
"I'd like to," the young man answered. "But I have weak ankles."  
Yzma slapped her forehead. "You're excused."  
Now the first and last young men in the line-up were the only ones who remained. "Both of you, answer the last question I asked."  
They both shrugged and replied in unison, "No problem."  
Yzma smiled, being struck with a sudden moment of brilliance. She came down from the throne to see the two young men up close and personal.  
"I have a . . . small . . . dilemma," she told them quietly. "See, I don't know which of you I should choose."  
"Oh, pick me, pick me!" They both urged her eagerly. One of them sounded rather sarcastic but Yzma opted, for some reason, to ignore his tone.  
"Well, there was one way you could help me decide . . ." She informed them. If one of them really didn't want the position, he could just as easily skip this part of the test or intentionally blow it.  
One of the two young men grinned and told her, "Whatever it is, I'll do it!"  



	5. 

Chapter Four  
  
"I'd never have dreamt that in love  
I'd be lost and so easily led,  
I guess I was caught  
By that hint of a smile on her face . . .  
I thought I was happy before  
When my life was as easy as pie,  
But that was the past  
Of an ignorant youth . . ."  
  
~By Sting, "One Day She'll Love Me"  
  
"Hey, Talu, watch this -- I'm a unicorn!" Kuzco held an ear of corn up to his forehead so that it was pointing up to the sky at an angle.  
Nhutalu burst out laughing and Kuzco smiled at her, slowly lowering the corn. He'd never made someone laugh before he met her -- at least not because of his sarcasm or at the expense of a third party. He'd made nearly everyone laugh at Yzma's age at some time or other. Simply, the fact that she was a couple of thousand years old was humorous enough on its own -- without his witty anecdotes.  
"So, are you gonna help me or just stare at me like that all day long?" Nhutalu asked, her laughter subsiding. "Not that I mind you watching me."  
"Sorry . . ." Kuzco glanced away from her. "I just . . . I'm trying to memorize your face so at least I have something left of you after you leave." He paused, reluctant to ask, "So . . . When are you leaving?"  
Nhutalu sighed, looking away from him because she couldn't bear to see his reaction. "I'm giving myself five more days."  
"Five?! That's it?"  
She knew he wouldn't like that response but if she stayed any longer, she'd be inclined to stay forever. And that, she was fairly certain, would upset her parents. "I'm afraid so . . ."  
Well, on the bright side, that meant only five more days of the charade. And on the not-so-bright side, it meant a lifetime of loneliness. He could ask her to marry him, but in reality, she barely knew him. Why would she accept his proposal? But if she had no one else -- and she claimed that she didn't -- why would she refuse? He wondered if she had even the slightest clue how he felt about her.  
"You seem preoccupied," Nhutalu pointed out sadly. "You're not mad at me, are you?"  
"No," Kuzco replied. He glanced at her after a silent moment of sulking and caught the glimmer of tears in her eyes. He had never intended to make her cry. In a moment of desperation, he pulled a corn cob from the basket. "Hey, uh, what do you want to bet I can snap this is half?"  
Nhutalu gave him a crooked smile. "Don't be silly," she sniffled. "Those are impossible to break. Believe me, I've tried!"  
"Is that a challenge?"  
After a pause, she decided, "Yes. Yes, it is."  
"Fine." Concentrating with all his might, he put one hand on each end of the ear of corn. "Okay, corn, you're going dooown!" Breaking into a sweat, Kuzco attempted to break the ear down the middle by snapping it. His arms shook and he was grimacing but the corn held its ground.  
"You give up?" Nhutalu asked, giggling.  
"Never!" Kuzco proclaimed. "It's to the death, now!"  
"Come on, gimme the corn," she laughed, trying to take the ear back from him.  
"No -- I must defend your honor!" Practically making a scene, Kuzco continued the struggle.  
"You're crazy! . . . I like that."  
Kuzco instantly stopped the battle, looking at Nhutalu silently. She took the opportunity to swipe the ear of corn from him and announce, "Corn one, Cusi zero!"  
"Hey!"  
"Don't worry about it, I don't think you're any less of a man . . ."  
Kuzco glared at the ear of corn and muttered in response, "Lousy corn. I can't believe I used to like the stuff."  
Nhutalu laughed. "Oh, come now -- no hard feelings."  
"I think you sided with the corn. Somehow you helped the corn cheat!" Kuzco pouted.  
"Augh, cute!" She squealed, suddenly latching on to him. "Cute, cute, cutecute! Don't pout!"  
Slowly, Kuzco wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek against the top of her head. They were silent for a few moments when both of them heard approaching footsteps.  
"What --" Kuzco glanced up, then sat back startled, releasing Nhutalu. "Kronk? What are you doing here?"  
"Cuuusiii," he greeted Kuzco with a not-quite-discreet wink. "With Nhutalu!"  
Nhutalu looked away from Kronk guiltily. "Hi, Kronk," she mumbled.  
"I don't suppose either of you have seen Yzma lately?" Kronk asked, his eyes darting between Kuzco and Nhutalu.  
Nhutalu shrank back even further.  
"You know, small light gray cat with really sharp claws? Very expressive little thing --"  
"Kronk--" Kuzco frowned. "She's at the palace! Didn't you know that?"  
"Oh. Oh!" Suddenly he remembered the meeting Pacha had dragged him to, not to mention the rest of the villagers. Something had been wrong then and he couldn't think of it up until that moment. Nhutalu hadn't shown up at that meeting, and neither had Kuzco. They must have been off together, he surmised. "Riiight, Cuuusiii . . . I knew that . . ."  
Kuzco snorted. "Of course you did."  
"It must've slipped my mind," he chuckled, tapping his temple with a fingertip.  
"Along with everything else," muttered Kuzco.  
Kronk smiled, oblivious to Kuzco's comment. "Well, I'll let you two get back to what you were, uh . . . doing . . ."  
"Thanks," Kuzco replied flatly. It was too late to resume what they'd been doing. The moment had already passed and the mood had been ruined and he knew that they'd never be able to regain it.  
"Bye!" Kronk trotted off, waving happily to Kuzco and Nhutalu over his shoulder.  
After a moment, Nhutalu decided, "We'd better get this corn up to Pacha's." Her tone of voice sounded strange, very troubled.  
Kuzco stood up, helping her to her feet. "Talu? Are you okay?"  
"I --" She tried to get it out but it kept catching in her throat. After three tries, Nhutalu just shook her head. "It's nothing . . . Nevermind."  
Kuzco frowned. It didn't look like it was 'nothing.' "It's okay," he told her gently. "When you're ready to tell me whatever it is you wanna tell me, I'll be listening."  
"That's a comfort." She sighed.  
Together, Kuzco and Nhutalu took the basket up into the hills.  
  
That night, Nhutalu was fairly silent as she sat with her basket, husking the corn she'd harvested earlier in the day with Kuzco's accompaniment. Chicha joined her to help her with this task, trying to figure out what was making her cousin so unhappy. Tipo and Chaca had gone stir-crazy at sundown and ended up tearing through the house, playing sword games with two rogue corncobs.  
Meanwhile, across the room, Pacha and Kuzco sat, both carving away at their small blocks of wood. Kuzco was now overly cautious on his project, taking tiny swipes with his knife, and doing so away from himself. That way, he not only avoided further injury, but it made it so that he could easily hide his project in case Nhutalu decided to wander by. Pacha had asked three times by then what Kuzco was making. Each time, Kuzco replied ever so quietly, "It's nothing special."   
Pacha, of course, did not believe this -- not when he saw how much concentration Kuzco was putting into it. What unnerved Pacha was how genuinely modest Kuzco was being. Something was going on. Could it have been that Nhutalu's humble roots had somehow began to influence Kuzco?  
Pacha began to chuckle at the ridiculous thought.  
Kuzco glanced at him. "What? What's so funny?"  
"Oh, nothing . . . I was just thinking . . ."  
"About?"  
"Us."  
Warily, Kuzco asked him, "What about us?"  
"Just . . . how much you've changed since I first met you."  
Kuzco blinked. "Yeah . . . um . . . I never did get to thank you for all that, by the bye."  
Pacha's jaw practically hit the floor -- for numerous reasons.  
"Well," Kuzco explained, "I figure that the likelihood of Nhutalu liking me the way I used to be is pretty slim . . ." He glanced at his hands with a sigh. That knowledge was not quite the most comforting thing in the world.  
"Is something wrong?"  
"I'm . . . just really confused about her . . . All I'm certain of is that I don't want her to leave."  
"You're young, Kuz-si. Cusi." Pacha gave him a weak smile. "This whole relationship thing really isn't as complicated as it may seem."  
"It's easy for you, maybe. You were cared for when you were growing up, and I bet that taught you how to care for others. Me . . . I didn't have anything. I mean --" he stopped, suddenly completely puzzled. "I had everything but . . . Yzma was pretty much my mother. If that gives you any idea."  
"I'm surprised you turned out so well." Pacha shuddered. "I see what you're getting at. But like I said, it's not as difficult as you think." He paused. "Basically, in order to know what you like, you must first figure out what you do not like. Once you figure that out, what you like is everything else. And . . ." Pacha smiled. "I guess your 'everything else' is my wife's young cousin."  
"Okayyeahfine," Kuzco replied impatiently. "Then what?"  
"Then . . . you let fate wind its path."  
"Is there any way to redirect this . . . path-thingie?"  
Pacha sighed, knowing full well what Kuzco meant. "I'm afraid not. You just need to . . . have . . . faith . . .?"  
Kuzco frowned. He was not used to not being able to control things and he didn't like it. After a moment, he glanced at Nhutalu. She didn't look too happy at the moment, either.  
Feeling the weight of his stare, Nhutalu stopped husking the ear of corn in her hands halfway through the motion and looked up at Kuzco.  
"That's it," she sighed, throwing the ear of corn into the basket. "I can't take it anymore!"  
"Nhutalu?" Chicha asked.  
Nhutalu stood up and went straight to Kuzco, who quickly hid his project from her. "Cusi? Can I talk with you for a moment?"  
Though he was reluctant to join her at the tone of her voice, Kuzco was quick to get up and follow Nhutalu out into the backyard.  
Nhutalu drew in a deep breath. "I don't know why you're the one I wanted to share this with . . . Maybe because I hope you won't hate me like everyone else would if they found out . . ." She didn't know that Yzma had gained control of the throne but she knew Yzma was a bad, bad woman and was seeking out the Emperor. Obviously, to do unspeakable things to him.  
"I could never hate you . . . Come on, you make it sound terrible. It can't be that bad," replied Kuzco.  
"Yes it is. And yes it can."  
"You're really worrying me . . ."  
"Okay. I'll just say it. Cusi . . . You know how Yzma's not a cat anymore and she's back in the palace and looking for the Emperor so she can kill him?"  
Kuzco held his breath and nodded slightly.  
"Well, . . . that's all my fault."  
Kuzco exhaled after a moment, then for some reason, burst into laughter. "How could you even begin to think that was your fault?"  
Nhutalu gaped at him in response at first. Then, slowly, she admitted, "Because I took Yzma back to the palace and she had me mix the potion that made her human again."  
Kuzco's laughter was extinguished immediately, being replaced by a stunned stare.  
"Oh please don't hate me," she whispered, burying her face in her hands.  
"I don't hate you." Kuzco pulled Nhutalu into an awkward hug, trying to figure out he really did feel toward her at the moment. It was her fault he was not in the palace and -- inevitably -- it was her fault he was having to lie to her about who he was. But he didn't hate her. In fact, he wasn't even angry with her -- and that left him completely dumbfounded. "Just . . . Could you tell me what happened?" He needed to know that she had not done all that purposefully.  
Nhutalu shook her head.  
"Please?" It was the type of thing he'd have anyone else imprisoned for life for, if not worse.  
After a long pause, she began. "Yzma told me that she was one of the Emperor's brides and that Kronk had stolen her because he was jealous or something, I don't remember, and that she needed to get back to the palace so she could get human again to marry the Emperor and she was so nice to me and I believed her!" Nhutalu sobbed.  
Kuzco almost smiled. He knew, then, that she hadn't done it on purpose. Before he could open his mouth to comfort her, she continued.  
"So after she was human again, she freaked out on me and started making other demands as if I was her slave or something! She wanted me to find the Emperor but I refused to and then she sent the guards after me saying that I kidnapped the Emperor!" She stepped away from him, tears streaming down her face. "Do I look like I could physically move someone against his will? Besides, how could I kidnap the Emperor? I've never even met the guy!"  
There was another perfect opportunity to tell Nhutalu the truth and yet it seemed like a really bad time. Oh, hey, I'm actually the Emperor -- you know, the guy who Yzma's hunting down to kill because you so kindly took her to the palace and helped her turn human again? "Hey, it'll be okay."  
"How?" Nhutalu cried as Kuzco pulled her back into his arms.  
Kuzco sighed. "Oh, I wish I knew . . ."  
  
The following morning, Kuzco awakened with the brilliant idea to prove to Nhutalu that everything would be okay. He wasn't sure where exactly the idea had come from but wasn't about to dismiss something that good. Eager to see if his idea would work, he left his house for Pacha's only shortly after sunrise.  
Nhutalu was asleep on the floor a few feet away from the dwindling fire when Pacha answered the door and silently beckoned Kuzco inside.  
"What are you doing here? Cusi, it's early . . ." Pacha told him, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. " . . . Even for me."  
Kuzco shrugged, a sheepish smile on his face. "I . . . I, uh, just had to take care of something, actually. Nhutalu needs to be cheered up."  
Pacha glanced over at the slumbering girl. "No, I don't think so. I think she needs to sleep."  
Kuzco's smile faded slightly. "Shows what you know."  
Frowning, Pacha stepped aside. "I have to attend to the llamas. Wake her up at your own risk."  
With a decisive nod, Kuzco made his way to Nhutalu and stooped down beside her. "Hey. Talu." He nudged her arm slightly.  
As she stirred, the thought of kissing her to wake her up passed his mind. But as he neared her cheek, he realized he'd lost his chance.  
"Cusi?" Nhutalu gasped, her voice still raspy with morning frogs. "What are you doing here? The sun's barely over the horizon." She stretched slightly with a quiet moan of discontent, almost striking Kuzco in the face with an uncontrolled movement of her arm.  
He dodged her, but just barely. "I was thinking about what you told me last night."  
Suddenly, she was quite awake. "Oh, Cusi --" Nhutalu frowned, sitting up and pushing him away from her. "Don't tell me -- you decided that you do hate me!"  
"Shhh --" he tried to calm her. "No, no! Actually . . ." This made no sense and he knew that if he thought about it, it would only frustrate and confuse him further. "Actually, I wanted to prove to you that everything will be okay."  
Nhutalu sighed. "How do you propose to do that?"  
"Well, come on. I'll show you. I don't want to ruin the surprise."  
With a fatigued sigh, Nhutalu slowly rose to her feet, her post-comatose state still wreaking havoc on her ability to maintain her balance. Kuzco caught her quickly, hanging on to her arm.  
"You awake enough to do this?" He asked her, watching her carefully.  
One glance at Kuzco was enough to reassure Nhutalu that she was. "Yeah. I think so." Maybe she was still dreaming, but he looked even cuter than normal when he was concerned.  
"Okay. Let's go."  
Nhutalu took one step when her ankle gave out beneath her. Kuzco held her up, laughing lightly. "You sure you're ready?"  
Suddenly determined, she told him, "Yes. Let's go."  
The crisp air of daybreak was all the peasant girl needed to awaken her senses. She was very alert, noticing more tiny details about the world around her than she normally did; the smell of the damp grass and the strange cool warmth from the morning sun as it shined through the overhead tree branches in thin strips. She noticed the dew sparkling like the stars at night as they dangled precariously from flower petals and lush green leaves. It seemed odd to her that the very same morning that she could barely open her eyes, she was more observant than ever to the world around her. The majority of the plants in the Andean jungle were in full bloom, rejoicing in the pleasant weather. The peculiar blossoms provided both an enjoyable sight for the peasants in the villages, as well as delightful fragrances which filled the air; especially when the sun warmed their flower petals.  
As Kuzco and Nhutalu walked down a winding path surrounded by madly growing foliage, Kuzco shyly took Nhutalu's hand.  
After a moment, smiling to herself, Nhutalu gathered the nerve to ask, "So what did you do all day? I mean, before you had me to entertain you?"  
Kuzco pursed his lips for a moment. "What do you mean? Why do you ask?" He queried apprehensively.  
She stopped him mid-stride, holding his hand up to hers. "My skin is softer than most who work in the fields. And your skin is softer, yet."  
"I, uh . . ." Kuzco blushed, struggling to find an excuse. "Well, uh, that's because I help with the llamas and all that. You know, wash them. You have no idea how smelly they get when they've been out in the sun and haven't been washed in empires."  
Nhutalu laughed. "I could guess. So you really like llamas?"  
"You could say I owe my life to one."  
She raised an eyebrow at him. "So . . ." Slowly, Nhutalu glanced around the path as they continued walking. "How does this prove to me that things will be okay?"  
After a moment, Kuzco stopped walking and stooped down at the base of a nearby tree. In its bark grew a modest sized epiphyte. The orchid, its leaves a deep green and nearly half a foot long, was flourishing. It had multiple spikes, each dotted with a single tri-petaled flower at the end.  
Nhutalu watched in silence as Kuzco presented her with one of the Masdevallia's flowers. It looked like a tiny cone, the center a brilliant orange-yellow. It had a tiny white crest that extended from the top and two slender white tails that grew from the bottom, giving the appearance of needle-like fangs. Upon closer inspection, Nhutalu noticed dull purple spots on the fangs and crest. Despite its strange appearance, she found it remarkably attractive. Smiling slowly, she lifted it to her nose. It had a light fragrance, one Nhutalu was barely even capable of sensing. "What is this?" She asked.  
Much like everything else in the jungle, the flower did not come pre-named. Taking advantage of the situation, he told her, "It's a Kuzcovallia. Named after our illustrious emperor."  
Nhutalu smiled. "It's so pretty."  
"Hey, uh, that reminds me . . ."  
"Of?" She prompted him.  
"I never got to tell you."  
"Tell me what?"  
"I never got to tell you how pretty I think you are."  
A deep shade of red, Nhutalu asked Kuzco, "Is this how you were going to insist that everything's going to be okay?"  
Kuzco smiled. "I was hoping it might help."  
Nhutalu hugged him, discreetly sticking the flower in his hair, resting it just above his ear. "It did."  
  
There was a certain kind of silence that belonged to the forest, alone. It was quiet, that is, despite the vocalizations of the birds and frogs and bugs. And all of the other woodland creatures who had to -- by the very nature of living in the jungle -- share their home.  
It was a miracle that despite the constant noise level, any of the animals were able to sleep. Nature made it convenient to balance this out by creating some creatures that slept during the sunlight hours instead of at night.  
But that strange loud silence was quite capable of being broken, but by only one thing: the sound of humans. Their unmistakable horridly disgusting grunting, the way they could not just leave things undisturbed. Most of the animals knew by instinct to keep clear of them. But as with everything, there was always an exception: Bucky, the squirrel. He knew to stay away from any creature larger than he but the talking llama had just been too curious a sight to pass up. So the interlude led him to having a bad headache, one that made certain that Bucky would never forget that day. But he'd had his revenge in the jaguar's den, and that had made it all better.  
All in all, the talking llama turned out to be a not-half-bad human. He'd helped make Yzma into a cat, thus freeing Kronk of his voluntary servitude. And with his free time, Kronk began working for the cause: teaching humans to speak and understand squirrel. Among other woodland languages. Bucky supported that all the way, so, really, Kuzco wasn't so bad.  
That particular morning, Bucky awakened to the sound of two pairs of footsteps; human footsteps. He would have left well enough alone but he heard them talking. Once more, curiosity got the best of him. Uncurling himself from the hibernal ball of tail and rodent, Bucky bounded down the length of gnarled tree branch to investigate.  
Two young, strapping young men with layers of muscles on their arms and chests, were walking down the small winding path. They were both in quite a jovial mood, talking and laughing with each other at every step of the way.  
Now Bucky didn't speak human -- mostly because his larynx was not built for that type of communication -- but he did understand a limited amount; only enough to keep him out of immediate danger. In normal circumstances. It also happened to be just enough to enable him to follow all the juiciest gossip.  
"Do you speak to woodland creatures?" The burlier of the two snorted. "What kinda question is that?"  
The second, slightly less burly man replied in a fake older woman voice. "Do you speak to inanimate objects?"  
"Well, hello, Mr. Spoon! You're looking particularly wooden today! Which way did the fully clothed peacock go?"  
They both burst into uncontrollable laughter.  
"Come on, as if it's even possible to speak to them!"  
"As if they're smart enough!"  
Bucky frowned, raising his tiny paw to them and shaking it in the air like a fist. That was the worst thing about humans; they always thought that not only were they smarter than all the other creatures, but that they were the only smart creatures.  
"I'm just trying to figure out this fascination Yzma has with that girl. It's like she's stalking her."  
"Single Peasant Female. I know. Weird."  
"Makes ya wonder what she wants with us."  
Pulling a leaf off a nearby bush, the slighter of the two asked his larger companion, "You're only eighteen, right? What would you want with her?"  
"Oh, I just pitied the poor, old beast."  
"Huh. Me too."  
"So what if she actually picks you?"  
The smaller man, who happened to be two years older than the burlier one, chuckled. "I never gave it any thought. I just assumed she wouldn't pick me. How 'bout you?"  
Snorting in response, the bigger man replied, "I'll decline. I did this whole stupid thing because I was told to. And who's gonna disobey the empress? Besides, my girlfriend would throw a fit if Yzma actually chose me. Even if I didn't accept."  
  
Bright and early the following morning, Nhutalu got ready for another excursion down to the corn field to continue to help with the harvest. As she was walking out the front door, stooping down to pick up her basket, Kuzco approached, a wide grin on his face.  
"Hey!"  
Nhutalu stood, without having touched the basket. "Good morning," she told him sweetly.  
He hugged her, placing the now slightly wilted Kuzcovallia flower in her hair just above her ear. Nhutalu touched it affectionately, almost wishing that there was a way to preserve the precious gift.  
"Are you ready for the trip today?" Kuzco asked her.  
"Trip?"  
He nodded, quite eager, as he watched Pacha leave the house and wander a few feet down the hill to the nearest pond.  
"Where are we going?" Nhutalu asked when Kuzco took her by the hand.  
"We've been hanging out with Pacha and Chicha too much lately," Kuzco explained, winking at Pacha as they walked by him. "I figured I'd take you out and give them a little space."  
Pacha smiled at them, having a hunch he knew where they were going. Nhutalu probably would never get to the corn field that day, but he didn't mind. Love was more important than a couple stupid stalks of corn.  
"But where are you taking me?" Nhutalu repeated.  
Kuzco glanced at her, smiling broadly. "You'll see!"  
"You know we do need to get back to the harvest . . ."  
"I know. This won't take too long."  
Kuzco led Nhutalu a short distance down the path winding away from Pacha's hut. At one point, another path met with it, this one meandering up a neighboring hill. At its peak stood a modest home, similar in many ways to Pacha's.  
"Come on." Zealously, like a little child, Kuzco pulled Nhutalu up the remainder of the path.  
As they neared the modest structure, the young peasant girl gasped. "Is this your home?"  
One of them. "Yup."  
Just beside the doorway, Nhutalu spotted a unique birdbath. Three small birds fluttered around in the cool water, splashing about happily. "My goodness -- where'd you get this?" She asked, reaching out to touch it.  
"Oh -- the birdbath?" Kuzco smirked. "I made it."  
"That's so neat! It kinda reminds me of the palace."  
Virtually the same architect. "Thanks -- it was . . . kinda meant to." Kuzco ushered Nhutalu into his place. "Whaddya think?"  
Nhutalu glanced around his home slowly, trying to make further judgments about him by what she saw. He seemed surprisingly neat -- especially for a guy. In a far corner of the hut was his bed. Bashful Nhutalu would normally have steered clear of it but something laying right in the center of the blanket attracted her attention. It was a small toy, not much larger than her hand. The stuffed animal, mostly purple with a white face, had multiple ear-like flaps on its head and big black eyes. Nhutalu wasn't sure what they were made of, but they were cute and that's all that mattered. "What's this?" She asked sweetly, picking it up.  
Kuzco quickly joined Nhutalu, his face growing bright red with embarrassment. "That's My Wampy," he explained quietly. "It's . . . something I've had since I was very young."  
"How sweet! Wampy -- that's such a cute name!"  
"No, its name is My Wampy. Just like you're My Nhutalu."  
Nhutalu smiled, blushing. "So . . . It's, uh, just you here?"  
"It's been just me for most of my life. Up until I met Pacha."  
"What about your parents?"  
"They were pretty much always too busy." . . . Running the empire.  
"That's sad." She frowned. After a moment, she turned to him. "Cusi . . . How old are you?"  
Kuzco cocked his head to one side. "I just turned nineteen. Why do you ask?"  
"I was just curious," she replied, blushing. "My eighteenth birthday was just before I left . . ."  
"You're embarrassed."  
"No I'm not." Nhutalu quickly handed Kuzco his childhood toy.  
"Yes you are."  
"Am not."  
"Are so."  
"Am not!"  
"Are so!"  
They glanced at each other in silence for a moment.  
"Do you ever feel like you've met the most ideal mate possible for yourself?"  
Nhutalu gaped at Kuzco, unable to respond at first. Finally, in a tiny, awed whisper, she asked, "What did I do to deserve you?"  
It was a perfectly valid question. The first thing that popped into his head was to suggest that she was a chosen one, that she should have been one of the Virgins of the Sun. But -- as with most things he wanted to say to her -- he couldn't. Well, there was always one way out of answering the question. He moved closer to her, pulling her into a hug. Whispering, "I don't know," he bent down and kissed her gently.  
After a few moments, Nhutalu slowly pulled away from him, and glanced down at her feet. "I do, by the way."  
"You do what?"  
"I do feel as if you're my perfect match."  
"Then why separate us?"  
"Because . . ." Nhutalu sighed. "This isn't my home. I can't live with Pacha and Chicha forever. Besides . . . My parents would miss me."  
"I'll miss you."  
"You're making this difficult. I already made my decision and I can't go back on it."  
"If it was not for that promise you made --"  
"Then I would still have to leave. I have no place to live here!"  
"What if . . . what if --"  
"What if what?" Nhutalu asked, tears filling her eyes. Kuzco really was going to be that stubborn.  
"What if you had a place to live in this village?"  
"How in the world would that happen? I can't afford anything here. I'm just a peasant and I couldn't build anything on my own."  
Kuzco didn't realize that that's the way life worked for the villagers. He'd had his crew build his modest little hut and the only thing he really did was stand there and crack the figurative whip over them . . . Only because Pacha wouldn't allow him to use a real one. He'd said something about honey and vinegar but Kuzco could never remember what it was. He cleared his throat. "Look, Talu -- I -- I mean -- and --" As much as he tried, Kuzco could simply not get the words out.  
Nhutalu gently took his hands. "Take it slow, deep breaths -- you can do this. What are you trying to say?"  
Kuzco stood before her, completely confused. "Gah -- I don't know!"  
"Now, now don't get upset, it's okay --"  
"No, it's not!" He cried. "I should just --" he sighed, exasperated. The truth was, he didn't understand his own emotions. And these were emotions that even the most poetic, eloquent and romantically experienced people could not very easily speak about. And he -- Emperor Kuzco -- grew up not knowing what love was. He didn't see it between his parents and he really never received it from anyone in the palace. Pacha was the first person who actually cared for him, despite what he was. So, confronted with it, he had no clue what to do with himself or how to express it properly.  
The extremely unfortunate thing was that Nhutalu interpreted the whole thing incorrectly. "Oh." She glanced down at her feet, suddenly feeling quite uncomfortable. "I'm . . . I'm going to go. See you later, Cusi."  
Kuzco gaped after her as she practically ran down the path.  
  
Nhutalu had never been more confused. She threw an ear of corn into the empty basket with such force that the basket actually teetered slightly. After a moment, she sighed, running her hands with their bemired fingers down her face. She didn't care about the streaks the dirt left on her cheeks. They shouldn't have mattered, anyway; Nhutalu was out in the field all alone and had no intention of seeing anyone.  
No, all in all, the situation made no sense. Nhutalu wasn't really a pathological liar. So she never actually told her parents that she was planning on returning home. They were sad to see her go but when she left them, neither had made a particularly great effort to make her stay. The thing that she had told Chicha, at least, had been true. Kuzco -- or Cusi, as she knew him -- had really been the first guy who had ever shown any interest in her. The guys in her village back home, so her father swore, were all too intimidated by her looks and intelligence to ever even attempt to talk with her. Kuzco seemed to have enough self-confidence to not only talk to her, but to -- to . . .  
With a snarl, Nhutalu threw another ear of corn into her basket.  
Whatever she'd told her parents or anyone else in that village didn't matter. The fact was, Nhutalu couldn't sleep in front of the fire of her cousins' home for the rest of her life. On top of that, she just couldn't shake the feeling as if she was cramping their style.  
Nhutalu felt horrible for having not been honest with Chicha. But there had been no choice, especially with the Yzma situation. Besides, it sure seemed as if Cusi was not being entirely truthful.  
There was something about him that Nhutalu couldn't put her finger on. He didn't act like everyone else. And when she really thought about it, he didn't exactly look like everyone else. He was paler than most, less 'rough around the edges.' But despite being so not rugged, he seemed so powerful. The one thing Nhutalu couldn't deny was how painfully charismatic he was. One glance at him was a reminder of how perfect he was. Or at least, of how she felt about him.  
A third ear of corn was propelled into the basket.  
Why was he trying so desperately to get her to stay, anyway? If he liked her so much, he could just tell her. That's what Nhutalu was waiting for. If he gave the word, she'd stay. It was the simple.  
"Hey."  
Nhutalu glanced up at Kuzco, squinting as the sun shined directly behind him. "What are you doing here?"  
"I, uh -- kinda figured you'd be here." He told her, coughing nervously.  
"Well, this corn has to be harvested somehow. Who else is going to do it?"  
Kuzco frowned. Was Nhutalu starting to resent that Pacha and Chicha were making her do this?  
"If I offended you earlier, I apologize."  
"You didn't offend me."  
Kuzco sighed, watching Nhutalu throw another three ears of corn into the basket in quick succession. "You're upset."  
"I'm not upset."  
"That's not true."  
Nhutalu fell silent, ceasing her work for a moment. She couldn't respond.  
Kuzco bent down, retrieving an ear of corn and holding it to his forehead. "I'm a unicorn?" He chuckled weakly.  
Slowly, Nhutalu smiled. Kuzco managed to prove exactly the point she'd made to herself earlier about his charisma. "Stoppit . . ."  
Tossing the corn back into the basket, Kuzco smiled back at Nhutalu. "I can't help it. You bring out that part of me." After a pause, he told her, "I'm sorry if it bothers you that I don't want you to leave."  
" . . . I just wish you understood that the fact that . . . well, just because you don't want me to go isn't going to stop me . . . from going."  
Kuzco frowned. He actually understood better than she thought he did. He was completely aware that because she didn't know he was the emperor, he couldn't order her to stay as he otherwise might have.  
"You know . . . you could always come back to my village with me," Nhutalu offered. "Sure, my village isn't as important to the empire as this one is . . . But it's cozy and pretty and . . . And . . ."  
"And I couldn't. Even if I wanted to." Pacha's village was the closest one to the palace. If he had to travel any further away from the city, he might as well resign from the throne. Actually, with Yzma in the palace, he technically already had lost the throne. It was his hope, and it had been since he'd hastily left with Pacha, that at least Ysalane had managed to scare Yzma off.  
Nhutalu sighed, watching Kuzco's eyes practically glaze over. "I suppose that's only fair."  
"It is?"  
She nodded. "Well, yeah . . . Since I'm not about to stay here. Why should you leave for me?"  
The answer was actually very simple and only four words long. But he didn't respond to her.  
"Cusi?"  
"Yeah, Talu?"  
"Would you please do me a favor?"  
"Of course! . . . Anything."  
"Make my last few days here nice . . . Don't ask me to stay anymore." That wasn't what she was dying to hear from him. But when she thought about it, she realized it was a little unfair to expect this boy to utter those three special words to her; especially considering that they'd really only just met. But if he felt strongly enough about her to expect her to stay in a foreign village for him, certainly he could say that he loved her.  
"I can't promise you that, Nhutalu. But . . . I'll try, for all that's worth."  
"That's worth everything to me, Cusi. Thank you." She leaned over and kissed him softly on the cheek.  
  
Yzma sat on the throne, tapping her long nails lazily against the stone armrest. Her two potential cronies had not yet returned from their assignment and Yzma believed that they hadn't even reached the village. But that was actually okay; it bought her time to consider the options of what she would do with Nhutalu. "Decisions, decisions," Yzma sighed. She would deal with the peasant girl when -- and if she ever arrived. There was a much more pressing issue at hand. Something she should have taken care of even before she tried to fill the position that Kronk had left empty.  
A group of her guards entered the expansive room in a single-file line, at the end, two guards escorting a willowy young girl between them. The girl, who Yzma knew was not more than twenty-two years old, looked around apprehensively as she was brought before the throne.  
Yzma bowed to the girl slightly, but only out of force of habit. "Ysalane," she said, saccharine dripping from her words. "How good it is to see you again."  
It had been many years, indeed, since Yzma last looked upon Ysalane's beautiful face. Yzma almost didn't recognize her.  
"Hello, Yzma," Ysalane replied softly. "It has been a while . . ."  
"I heard you've had little luck getting the emperor to choose his bride," Yzma said. "Don't tell me I was wrong in appointing you the position."  
"This year and last year, I had someone else pick the girls. I could not bear to hear that Kuzco rejected another set of my choices for him," Ysalane replied sadly.  
"You know he has gone missing again."  
Ysalane lowered her head, slowly placing a fragile hand atop her stomach.  
Yzma's eyes widened as she observed the girl's movement. So the rumors were true. Her heart practically leapt into her throat. She was too afraid to ask, too afraid that the answer would be what she least wanted to hear. This scenario would be just as bad as if Kuzco actually had the guts to return.  
After a lengthy hesitation, Yzma told the young girl, "You are putting on some weight."  
Ysalane lifted her head, a glowing smile lighting her face. "You noticed!"  
"Yes," Yzma replied sourly.  
"I'm four months along," said Ysalane, quite proudly. "We've already chosen a name, too. Sinchi Roca."  
Yzma had heard the rumor two months ago, but was not sure just how much she could trust the peasants of Pacha's village. Besides, she was also desperate to deny it, and for obvious reasons. She had always been fond of Ysalane, considering that Ysalane was so much nicer and far more obedient than her younger brother.  
But what had been good news to the empire threw an ugly wrench into her otherwise perfect plans.  
"You've always been the cooperative one," Yzma said gently, actually filled with remorse over her decision.  
Ysalane frowned, taking a small step backwards. "Y-Yzma?" She whispered.  
"You see, sweet Ysalane," Yzma began, standing gracefully from her throne. She picked up a small bottle of bright pink liquid and began her descent to the floor. "You've -- unfortunately -- become my biggest threat."  
Ysalane struggled to swallow the lump in her throat and suddenly felt as if she was going to throw up.  
Yzma approached, shaking the bottle slightly by its cap to aggravate the liquid. "I don't want to do this, you see, but I'm afraid I have to."  
"Do what, Yzma?" Ysalane was frightened. Kuzco had told her that Yzma had gone insane long ago but she always thought he was joking, like he did about anything that had to do with her. This didn't seem very much like a joke anymore.  
Snapping her fingers, Yzma ordered one of her guards to her side. "I'll give you a fair warning. That throne is mine. Not yours, not Sinchi Roca's. Stay out of my way."  
Ysalane didn't understand and slowly, she decided to challenge the old, decaying woman. "Why should I?" She whispered shakily.  
Yzma popped the cork in the small bottle, and gave it to the guard standing just beside her.  
"Empress Yzma?" The guard stuttered.  
"Drink it!" She snapped at him.  
Breaking into a sweat, the guard drank the potion, his hand shaking so violently that some of the liquid spilled down his lip and chin.  
Before Ysalane's widened eyes, the guard transformed into a small, white rabbit.  
"You should," Yzma suggested, "because if you don't, I'll do this to you." She stooped down, her knees cracking loudly, and picked the rabbit up by its ears. The creature let out a terrible shriek, even for a moment after she held it in her arms and the stress on its ears was relieved. "And I may not be so nice. I could change you into anything from a rabbit to a llama to a flea or spider."  
Ysalane remained speechless. She hated spiders.  
To the two guards who escorted Ysalane into the throne room, Yzma instructed, "See Ysalane out."  
"Are we taking her back to the Emperor's Aqllawasi?" One of the two queried.  
"I don't care, just take her away!"  
  
Nhutalu's last few days in Pacha's village flew by. Tipo and Chaca both desperately wanted to spend every waking moment with her. Beside them, Chicha seemed more eager than she'd been in days past to gossip with Nhutalu and Pacha had suddenly gotten very affectionate. Manco was the only one who was not affected by the knowledge that Nhutalu was leaving -- but that was because he was only about one year old and didn't know any better.  
Kuzco had actually managed to uphold his promise to Nhutalu, but she was not aware of how well or how poorly he did when he was at his home by himself.  
Of everyone, Nhutalu was doing worst. The fact that she noticed her extended family really would miss her, and that Kuzco had made his displeasure with her leaving all too apparent, only made Nhutalu feel even guiltier. When it came down to it, she knew her parents weren't expecting to ever see her again. They loved her but were aware she was ready and willing to strike out on her own. Chances are, if she didn't return after a certain amount of time, they'd just as soon assume that she moved in with Pacha and Chicha and would pay a visit to that part of the family anyway.  
But Chicha, her children and husband, and Kuzco all desperately wanted her to stay.  
Yet, as was planned, Nhutalu prepared herself to leave that afternoon.  
The atmosphere was somber in Pacha's household that day. Every time either of the two older children walked by Nhutalu, they would stop for a moment to give her a silent hug.  
When the sun reached its highest point in the sky at noon, Nhutalu stood in the doorway of Chicha's and Pacha's house, ready to say good-bye.  
"Now don't wait to come back so long that we'll have to reintroduce you to the kids," Pacha told her, giving her a tight hug.  
"I won't," Nhutalu promised.  
"If you want a chance with Cusi, don't wait any longer than a year," Chicha informed Nhutalu, squeezing her tightly.  
Nhutalu's frown deepened. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
Sadly, Chicha told her, "Just trust me."  
Nhutalu leaned over and gave Manco a kiss on the forehead. She was certain she would not recognize the little baby the next time she saw him.  
Tipo and Chaca both gave Nhutalu quite lengthy hugs, neither saying anything to her. But their expressions spoke loudly enough of their woe.  
Standing back up, Nhutalu sighed. She couldn't procrastinate any longer. "Well . . . Thank you for everything . . ." Choking back her tears, she said, "Goodbye," and turned to leave.  
Nhutalu was crying as she walked down the path away from Pacha's home. Kuzco had promised her that he would be there to say goodbye at noon but he didn't show. When her friends used to talk about being heart-broken, she never imagined it was an actual, physical pain.  
As she neared the path which led up to Kuzco's home, she spotted him standing there, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. Through her tears, Nhutalu smiled. "I didn't think you would . . . er . . . wanted to . . . say goodbye."  
"Of course I did. I mean, I didn't want to have to say goodbye, but . . . well . . . Seeing that I have no choice, I just didn't want to have to share you with your family."  
Nhutalu chuckled weakly. "Well . . . I'm . . . I'm on my way out."  
"I know." Kuzco opened his arms to her and she eagerly hugged him. "Are you sure about this?" He asked her.  
To his shoulder, she sobbed, "Yes . . ."  
Kuzco sighed. "Okay, if you think it's for the best."  
But she didn't think it was for the best -- and she hadn't for the last two days.  
Nhutalu pulled away from him, sniffling. She tried to take his hands but noticed that his left hand was a crunched into a tight fist. "What's this?" She wondered, touching his hand.  
Slowly, he opened it, revealing a small, wooden heart. "For you."  
"Aww . . . Thank you, Cusi." She picked it up, gasping at the thing gold chain that dangled from the little loop that had been drilled into the top of it. "Where'd you get this?!"  
With a small smile, Kuzco told her, "Don't ask. Just . . . Just know that I carved this heart for you and please hang on to it -- it's valuable."  
Nhutalu laughed awkwardly. "Cusi . . . It's a piece of wood carved into the shape of a heart. How is it valuable?"  
"Not a heart. My heart." If only she knew what that meant. Something touched by the emperor was valuable enough as is. But something made by him was even more so.  
She promptly slipped the chain over her head. The wooden charm felt strange at first, resting against her chest. "Cusi, you've brought . . . a special . . . I don't know . . . Light into my life."  
Kuzco smiled, rather smugly. Solar blood will do that . . .  
" . . . And I'll never forget it."  
Boy, another perfect moment to tell Nhutalu the truth. And he was letting it slip through his fingers.  
" . . . But . . . Can I ask you something?"  
"Sure."  
"Chicha told me that . . . If . . . I wanted a chance with you, that I'd best come back in less than a year. Why?"  
Kuzco gaped, utterly speechless.  
"Cusi?"  
"Um . . ." He coughed nervously. It was now or never. "She was just joking . . . I think she just didn't want to see us parted for so long. I don't want to see us apart for that long." Nice save.  
Nhutalu glanced down, gently pressing her fingers against the wooden charm. "Before I go, Cusi . . . Is there anything you want to tell me?" She'd stay, if he would just say what she wanted to hear.  
There was everything he wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her all about the neat looking ladybug he saw on his way down to meet her and what he'd had for breakfast just before that. About how he was really the emperor and how he felt about her. About the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars. The llamas in their herds, grazing the beautiful green fields. About how her dark eyes became these pools of sorrow when she was sad, and how they glittered like the ponds on a sunny day when she was happy. About how her laughter made him tingle all over. Just about how for the first time in his life, he felt wanted and special -- special, even for the emperor. All because of her. But all of that came out in two compact sentences.  
All Kuzco could tell her was, "Don't go. I'll really miss you."  
Nhutalu sighed. That wasn't it. The test was over and he had failed.  
"I'll miss you, too." With one last, lingering kiss, Nhutalu made her departure. "Goodbye, Cusi."  



	6. 

Chapter Five  
  
"To the hills I went looking for you  
because it was there I saw you first--  
you were playing with the wind,  
perhaps waiting for me.  
. . .  
. . . To the hill I return, huambrita,  
intending to see you once more--  
and if this time I find you, longuita,  
I will never let you go."  
  
~English translation by Avi Tuschman, "In the Paramo I Went Searching for You"  
  
Kuzco was sprawled out in the grass of Pacha's backyard, moaning pitifully.  
"Cusi?" Pacha asked.  
There was no response other than the same, continuing moaning.  
It was a stupid question, but Pacha decided to ask anyway. "Are you okay?"  
"I feel like I've died," Kuzco answered, promptly going back to his groaning. It almost sounded as if he had been physically injured.  
Pacha frowned. "No, really . . . Are you okay?"  
"What I wouldn't give to have heard her say my real name -- even once!"  
That was the last thing Pacha wanted to hear.  
Kuzco continued. "I can't do anything now that she's gone. It's like . . . like she ripped out my heart and took it with her. Like I'm just a shell with this big, hollow space in my chest. As if she just tied me up in a big useless knot and . . . And . . ." Suddenly he sat up, looking at Pacha. "I feel like . . . Like . . . It's been empires since I last got to look at her!"  
Pacha snorted. "It's been five minutes. I doubt Nhutalu's even reached the edge of the village yet. You could still go after her."  
"No, no!" Kuzco wailed. He threw his head back, kicking his feet against the ground. "It's useless, she just doesn't waaa-aaant me!"  
Pacha sighed.  
  
Tears streamed freely down Nhutalu's face. Leaving had been one of the toughest things she had ever had to do. But not turning back and running to Kuzco's open arms had been far more difficult. She knew he had watched her leave and it took every bit of self-restraint not to turn around to take just one more look at him. If she did, that would have been it and she would have had to kiss her trip back to her parents goodbye. For that, Nhutalu was proud of herself. But with as much pride in herself as she had, she couldn't figure out why she felt so horrible.  
Lost in thought and remorse, Nhutalu was too distracted to notice the strange sounds coming from the foliage just beside her.  
Then, two pairs of arms appeared seemingly out of nowhere and latched onto her. She didn't even get a chance to scream for help before a large hand slapped over her mouth. Despite being forced into a stinging silence, Nhutalu fought blindly against her assailants. But her efforts were futile -- one pair of those arms was strong enough to restrain her. Both pairs could have restrained a whole herd of llamas.  
"Calm down!" One of the men hissed at her. "And we won't have to hurt you!" His expression softened considerably as Nhutalu turned her face to him. She locked eyes with him, tears now falling unrestricted down her cheeks and a few of them following the contour of her gently sloping nose. Upon seeing her face, he suddenly begged, "Please don't make us have to hurt you!"  
This response was strangely comforting for Nhutalu. She relaxed in his grip, but only slightly. Trying to speak, she got the cruel reminder that she was bound by a giant hand.  
"Hey, let her speak!" The same man who had already spoken to her now instructed his partner. Though they looked similar enough to be brothers, Nhutalu already spotted one difference. The nicer man was a giant compared to the man who had remained silent this whole time. Slowly, the obstruction over her mouth was removed.  
Nhutalu drew in a deep breath, tasting the salt of her tears as they slid between her parted lips, now having nowhere else to go. "What do you want from me?" She sobbed.  
"D-don't cry!" The larger man stuttered. He tried to comfort her and as he reached out to pat her on the shoulder, she hiccuped. He recoiled quickly in fear. "Um . . . Don't be scared . . . We . . . We were just sent to retrieve you at the wishes of our Empress."  
Nhutalu's tears ceased almost instantly. "Why did you have to be so aggressive?"  
The two men glanced at each other, shrugging slightly. The smaller man finally spoke, honestly uncertain. "You know, I don't know! That's the way we always do things."  
"Yeah," the larger man added. "I guess we always just assumed no one would ever come along willingly."  
Nhutalu frowned. "Do you know why you were sent after me?"  
Both her captors shook their heads.  
"How do you know I'm even the right person?"  
"You Nhutalu?" The smaller man inquired.  
Being a generally honest person, the thought didn't occur to her to lie. "Yeah."  
"Then you're the right person," the larger man confirmed. "The description our Empress gave us was quite correct. Except that she didn't say you'd be this pretty."  
It was then that she realized she should have lied about her identity. They would have released her and she could have continued on her way home. Too late. Nhutalu sighed, dropping her head. "Now be honest," she told them. "What are the odds that any attempt of mine to escape would be successful?"  
Both men flexed their muscles at her pointedly. They rippled down their chests almost like waves in the ponds on a windy day.  
"Thank you for your honesty," Nhutalu told them flatly. Drawing in a deep breath, she conceded. "Take me to our leader."  
  
Pacha sighed, glancing out the window of his hut. "He's been like that for days."  
Chicha leaned over, peering out the window with her cheek pressed against Pacha's. Her expression softened as she spotted Kuzco's lone silhouette in the backyard. "Oh, that can't be healthy," she whispered, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Pacha. "You ought to talk with him."  
"I have," Pacha replied. "Every day." He glanced back at his wife just then. "I don't think he's listening. I mean . . . He watches me when I'm talking but it's as if my words go in one ear and out the other. Like . . . Like he's really paying more attention to his own thoughts than to what I'm telling him."  
Chicha puckered her lips thoughtfully. "I think I know what you're talking about. I was talking to him the other day and he got this vacant look in his eyes. And you know, it was painfully obvious what he was thinking about. I mean, who he was thinking about."  
Pacha gasped after a moment. "I can't believe this -- I never thought I'd see the day but . . . Something actually took precedence over his emperor-hood."  
Chicha knew he was right. Kuzco seemed to care more about Nhutalu than he cared about regaining control of his throne. "But where does that leave the empire?"  
Before turning into a llama, Kuzco had run the empire for no one's benefit but himself. After his enlightening experience, however, things had started to change for the better. And all of that turned out to be a waste unless he had control.  
Groaning, Pacha put his face in his hands. "You're right. I've gotta get him outta this . . . And back to the palace. But how?"  
"I wish I could help. All I can offer you is my support."  
"You know I'll need it. Something tells me that whole llama escapade won't hold a candle to this one."  
Flatly, Chicha told him, "That's the spirit."  
Day four and Nhutalu had not yet returned. Kuzco was beginning to think she really had left the village and it only took him three and a half days to finally admit to it. Unfortunately, doing that didn't make him feel better, as he was hoping it would.  
Kuzco sighed. There was so much he never got to do with her. He hadn't gotten the chance to tell her how he felt about her but he thought through his actions that he'd made it obvious. It wasn't every girl that he would go around kissing. He was still the emperor, throne or no throne. And no one touched the emperor. Okay, so no one except for Nhutalu. She should have known that made her special. But, as Kuzco painfully recalled, she didn't know he was the emperor. And at this rate, she never would know.  
He shouldn't have listened to Pacha. He could have just told Nhutalu that he was the emperor. And even if that didn't impress her -- and of course it would have -- he could use his powers to make her stay. And then he would have the rest of their lives to show her how he felt. That is, if she didn't run away or kill herself first. Technically, she already ran away.  
Kuzco couldn't figure out what he'd done wrong. The thought actually never occurred to him that she was the problem. But she couldn't have been. Nhutalu was perfect. Or, at least, he thought she was. And since he was the emperor, Inti, the Sun, the Inka, ruler of all . . . That meant she was perfect because he thought she was.  
Kuzco hunched over further in his spot. The sun was beginning to set as he stared off into the distance, watching his palace plunge into the golden hues of that particular dusk. It reminded him that now he had nothing. No potential bride, no expansive empire. He truly was a peasant. All in all, the experience was not so objectionable, except that he was lonely. But even the lonliness gave him a bit of time to think, and he attempted to remain optimistic. But optimism was something he'd never really been good at having. Because Nhutalu left, he was learning that he was actually making progress on his attitude due to the peasant girl's influence. Not that he needed to improve himself. He did that only because Nhutalu made him want to, and she did that without even trying.  
He had never felt so humbled, not even when he was a llama. It was in indescribable feeling.  
So was watching his palace fade into the night from afar. As the sky turned to black, Kuzco glanced upwards, spotting the first tiny dot of silvery-white light. Drawing in and expelling a long breath, he closed his eyes and made a wish.  
  
For the warmer months, it got quite chilly fairly quickly that evening. Nhutalu sat on one of the many staircases which led up to the massive palace, bundled up as warmly as she could in her poncho. The two men who accompanied Nhutalu on the four-day-long trip stood at the top of the steps, keeping their eyes fiercely on her.  
The empress had not yet had time to attend to Nhutalu and so had sent her guards to escort her back outside for the time being.  
Nhutalu assured herself that the empress must not have been aware how cold it was outside, or else she wouldn't have been sent back out to freeze.  
Remaining silent, Nhutalu sat and shivered on the cold stone. She wistfully imagined what would happen if her villager boyfriend had been with her and she could almost feel his arm around her waist and his warm breath on the nape of her neck. Nhutalu couldn't keep from smiling. But her smile faded quickly with the setting sun. There was no hope of her getting back to her parents' village anytime soon. She couldn't even get back to Pacha's village, and that's where her heart was. It was about that time when Nhutalu began questioning her sanity. Was it right having such strong feelings about someone she'd really just met? To want her whole world to revolve around him, solely? She felt as if everything she did was for him -- from harvesting the corn to breathing. As if her entire existence was for him.  
The sad realization struck then that there was no way he could possibly feel that way about her.  
Out of nowhere, Nhutalu recalled something her mother had told her once, not too long before she'd left her village, in fact. It is always better if your mate likes you more than you like him. That way, you're less likely to get hurt by him and he's less likely to be unfaithful to you.  
Nhutalu wondered if there was truth to those words; and if it was possible that Kuzco liked her more than she liked him.  
Nope. Not a chance.  
And not like it mattered. Chances are, she would never see him again, anyway.  
Nhutalu attempted to not think about him. Within a few moments, she failed miserably.  
As the sun dipped below the mountainous horizon, Nhutalu watched the stars appear one by one over where she knew Pacha's village was located.  
She lowered her head for a moment when someone approached her from behind and tapped her on the shoulder. "Nhutalu, the Empress will see you now."  
Nhutalu tried to ignore the nervous churning of her stomach as she was led through the palace. Although her original visit had been brief and -- in the end -- consisted entirely of a frantic search for an exit, Nhutalu was fairly certain the palace looked different from when she was there last. She couldn't put her finger on what the change was, but she just knew something was not right. Even the atmosphere seemed different. This was both a comforting and discomforting thought. Her two companions led her right into another giant room and brought her before the throne.  
Slowly, Nhutalu glanced up. Her mouth dropped open and she instantly took a step back. "Yzma?!"  
Yzma smiled wickedly down at the young girl. "Nhutalu. Welcome back to the palace. Sweetie."  
  
"You can't go on like this," Chicha said gently as she approached the figure in the backyard.  
"I can," Kuzco replied sulkily, "And I just might do that."  
"Cusi," Chicha whispered, patting him on the shoulder softly. "Please. It's making all of us feel bad."  
With a half-hearted "No touchy," Kuzco heaved a heavy sigh. "I can't believe she left."  
Chicha expelled a long breath. Pacha was right; Kuzco really was devastated. "We're all here for you, Sweetie." She blinked after a moment, truly shocked with herself. She'd been far too forgetful about who he was. "Emperor Sweetie."  
Kuzco actually almost smiled. That sounded like something Nhutalu would be inclined to call him -- if she'd known the truth. "Chicha, can I ask you something?"  
"Of course you can."  
"Nhutalu is your cousin, right? From another village in the empire."  
Chicha nodded.  
"Well . . . You, uh . . . You'd know which village Nhutalu's family's in. Right?"  
Knowing what was coming, Pacha's wife almost wanted to lie to him. Her expression grew somber in the darkness as she replied, "I've personally never been there but -- yes -- I know which village she's from. And . . ." Against Chicha's better judgment, she finished, "I know Pacha knows the way."  
Kuzco nodded slowly. "That's what I was hoping you'd say."  
"Cusi?" Chicha prompted him.  
"Thanks," he replied, obviously wanting to end the self-serving conversation.  
"Are you coming inside anytime soon? . . . Or going back to your place?"  
"Yeah, yeah. I was just gonna sulk a bit longer, first. If you don't mind."  
Chicha sighed. "As you wish."  
Kuzco glanced over his shoulder at Pacha's hut shortly after Chicha went back inside. Slowly, he smiled. It would take some effort but he was certain his plan would succeed.  
  
Yzma walked down the hallway beside Nhutalu, only about a foot of distance between them. A couple of yards behind them, the two men Yzma had sent after Nhutalu followed. It was their understanding that if Nhutalu attempted to escape, they were to stop and restrain her for as long as necessary. They had both grown fond of the girl and neither looked forward to having to do that. But so far so food. Although silent, it looked like Nhutalu was standing her ground bravely. But neither she nor the two young men had any idea where they were going or why they were going there. At least, they didn't know until they reached the end of one dark corridor -- where the door to Yzma's 'secret lab' was.  
"Come in." Yzma beckoned to the three of them when she opened the door. As they walked in, Yzma turned to Nhutalu, her eyes twinkling. "I bet you're wondering why I had you brought here."  
"Yeah," Nhutalu replied flatly. "I was only kinda curious."  
Yzma glided over to a nearby table, retrieving a tall golden tumbler. It had stones all around its rim about a half inch from the top and a half inch apart. "I also bet you're thirsty." She handed the cup to Nhutalu.  
Nhutalu's throat was parched. On the final day of the trip, she'd had nothing to drink. "Thank you." She tipped her head back, drinking greedily from the cup. Almost before she emptied the cup entirely, her hand jerked in a strange spasm and the tumbler went flying. Nhutalu screamed in terror as her legs gave out beneath her and she collapsed in the thick cloud of pink smoke.  
Slowly, the smoke cleared and Nhutalu heard the two young men behind her gasp. She attempted to stand up but her legs refused to work the way they always had in the past. Her arms weren't working properly either and when she tried propping herself up with her hands, she couldn't get the traction she needed against the smooth stone floor and fell flat on her face. Her jaw ached.  
"What's going on?" Nhutalu asked, glancing up at Yzma. Her throat felt odd and when she inhaled in preparation to speak, it seemed as if the air took longer to reach her lungs. And when it did finally get there, the breath she thought would be adequate proved only to suffocate her. This was when she began to panic, pushing against her face frantically.  
"Oh," said Yzma, watching with delight the little llama sprawled out on the floor in front of her, "this makes me wish I'd seen Kuzco's response!"  
"What did you do to me?!" Nhutalu sobbed.  
"I didn't do anything to you," Yzma smiled, picking up the cup from where Nhutalu had dropped it. "The potion did it."  
Nhutalu continued to sob, unable to control much of anything her body did -- or did not do. "Fix me, please!"  
"I needed to prove a point, my dear little . . . llama."  
"I'm a llama!" Cried the peasant girl in despair. She never would have thought that being a llama was so miserable, especially considering how much she liked the lamoids. It was such a drastic change that left her frightened almost into being mute.  
Yzma stooped down beside Nhutalu, running her dagger-like fingers through the llama's mane. "You see, I've desperately been trying to find a smart assistant. I had Kronk, but the only thing he was good at --" she paused, shaking her head slightly. "It wasn't helpful. But you, Nhutalu. You were capable of helping me reproduce a potion."  
"But --" she never imagined that that one tiny thing would end up haunting her like this.  
"You have two choices. Be my slave or remain a llama. Which will it be?"  
"Change me back!" Nhutalu wailed. "I'll do anything!"  
"Very well." Yzma nodded, smiling. "I'm glad you see things my way." She snapped her fingers at the two young men. "You both passed the test," she told them. "But since I have Nhutalu, it looks like I won't be needing your assistance after all."  
Both young men breathed long sighs of relief.  
"But I have one last task for you two before you leave. Nhutalu's outfit is not suitable for her new . . . career. I have something more appropriate but she'll need to be extracted from her old clothing, first."  
"No!" Nhutalu shrieked, attempting to recoil in terror despite her limbs' unwillingness to cooperate.  
The two young men smiled at each other and eagerly advanced on her.  
  
For the first time since Nhutalu left, Kuzco found a reason to smile.  
Pacha looked him over carefully, knowing full well that something was going on. Tipo and Chaca often used that exact same tactic when they wanted something. "What do you want?" He asked flatly.  
Kuzco straightened suddenly, almost guiltily, placing both hands behind his back. "What makes you think I want anything?"  
Snorting, Pacha placed Misty's saddle on her back, securing it around her belly. "Oh, I don't know . . . You offered to help me, . . . for instance."  
The emperor glanced down, tracing a design in the dirt with his toe. He quickly snuffed it out before Pacha could see it. "Can't I offer to help you?"  
"Of course you can. It might make your offer a bit more convincing if you actually helped, though. If you catch my drift."  
Kuzco blushed, scratching his forehead slightly. "Uh . . . heh . . ." He coughed nervously.  
"So, what do you want?" Pacha repeated.  
"Well, actually, I was going to ask you to join me on a trip."  
Pacha glanced at Kuzco, startled. "You're not thinking of going back to the palace, are you? Not while Yzma's there!"  
"Of course not!" Kuzco replied. "Why would I want to go back there?"  
This made Pacha frown. Were they ever going to get their rightful emperor back? Yzma had not yet done anything to effect their village but that wouldn't stop her from any future ventures. Pacha had already had to defend his hilltop home from one monarch and didn't relish having to do that again. "Yeah, why would you want to go back to your palace?" He muttered, rubbing his temples for a moment. "So then where do you want to go?"  
Kuzco shrank back slightly. "Chicha said you knew the way to Nhutalu's village."  
"Oh no. No, no. Cusi, that is not a good idea," Pacha told him firmly.  
"Well, then, fine. I'll just wander through the jungle aimlessly until I find her." Kuzco turned to leave, a small smile spreading across his lips. It worked once before, it had to work this time.  
"Don't do this to me."  
"Let's just cut to the chase here, shall we, Pacha? Take me to Nhutalu's village and save me the trouble of almost dying. Consider yourself a hero."  
Pacha groaned, getting the strange sense that he'd had a conversation similar to this one before. "When will you stop doing this to me?"  
"You know . . . I ask you to accompany me because you're my friend. And I trust you." Kuzco stared right up into Pacha's eyes, a compelling smile making his eyes sparkle slightly.  
Expelling a long breath, Pacha told him, "Fine. Fine. I'll take you. But -- you have to realize -- uh -- I mean . . ." He sighed, at a loss for words.  
Kuzco grinned, partially oblivious to Pacha's angst in his own excitement. He patted his large friend on the back affectionately and reassured him, "Whatever it is, don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to tell me everything about whatever it is that's bothering you."  
The thing was, Pacha really didn't want to tell him.  
  
"Pacha!" Chicha gasped. "You can't go!"  
"Chicha, dear . . . I have to. The stubborn little -- ergh! He'll go looking for her with or without me. And if something happened to him because I wasn't there to protect or save him . . . It would all be my fault, and wouldn't be any better than if I just went out and killed him with my own two hands." Pacha tried his best to explain the situation to Chicha without making things any worse than they already were with her.  
"He sure is manipulative."  
"Tell me about it."  
Chicha sighed, turning her back to Pacha and crossing her arms tightly across her chest. After a moment, she turned back to him with wide eyes. "But what about Talu's family?"  
"Believe me," Pacha told her, taking her by the arms gently. "I've never forgotten the day they brought her by. You don't easily forget things like that. Chicha, I tried to tell him."  
"And?"  
"I couldn't."  
She sighed again, more exasperated than before. "Maybe . . . maybe you could go by yourself?"  
"I suggested that. He said he couldn't wait another four days to see her while I brought her back."  
"Well . . ." Chicha shrugged helplessly. "I guess . . . I guess the poor thing's going to have to find out the hard way."  
"That's nothing new," Pacha pointed out. "You know, the whole llama thing?"  
"Right, right." She nodded. "I didn't really mean to hit him with a frying pan, you know."  
Pacha chuckled. "Don't worry about that. I'm fairly certain you didn't damage him worse than he already was . . ."  
"Huh?"  
"Nevermind." He wasn't entirely sure if Kuzco wanted the fact that Yzma raised him to be advertised.  
"So when does he think you're leaving?" Chicha asked softly, reluctantly.  
Pacha whispered, "Tomorrow morning." He flinched, anticipating her response.  
"You know," she said coldly, "sometimes I believe he really didn't change."  
"Chicha? Honey?"  
"He's . . . he's so selfish!"  
"He's in love."  
  
Nhutalu shivered, pacing around in Yzma's secret lab. She had been told to be there first thing in the morning, and there she was. But there Yzma was not. Although annoyed at having to get up so early for no apparent reason, Nhutalu was thankful for the time alone. She took the opportunity to familiarize herself with her surroundings -- taking careful note of where important things were placed. The potion for becoming human again was one of those important things.  
Looking slowly through a rack of potions, Nhutalu was shocked at the things she saw and wondered how many of them actually worked. "Iguana, ostrich, flamingo, bear, rabbit, guinea pig, fish, tiger, bird, lion . . . Spider, scorpion. Llama." She knew all too well that the latter did, indeed, work. In the back of her mind, Nhutalu wondered if she should take one of the bottles to use as self-defense. She reached for one of the shelves.  
"What are you doing?"  
Nhutalu jumped back guiltily. "I -- uh -- um -- oh -- nothing!"  
Yzma stepped into the room, placing a hand on her jutting hip. "You look awfully guilty for someone so . . . innocent."  
Deciding to change the focus of the fight, Nhutalu pointed out, "You were late. I've been waiting for you."  
Yzma realized the one folly of picking a smart crony. They had a tendency to retaliate. Apparently, Nhutalu had a mind of her own and she would be a challenge. At least she was one challenge Yzma was willing to deal with. The thing with smart people was -- that if you played your cards right -- you could mess with them psychologically. And from the self-conscious way Nhutalu stood there, Yzma knew exactly how she would start.  
"How do you like your new outfit?" Yzma asked sweetly, giving Nhutalu a lengthy once-over and making sure the girl noticed.  
Nhutalu shrunk back, clasping her hands tightly in front of her bare midriff. Exactly the desired effect. "I'm not quite used to having clothing like this." After a pause, she added, "And I don't understand why I have to wear it."  
"Because you're working for me and that's your . . . Well, consider it your uniform."  
Nhutalu's uniform consisted of two parts, neither of which covered her sufficiently. The white skirt flowed to her ankles but had slits so far up both sides that it seemed to be more like two flaps of cloth than a suitable garment. Her blouse was fairly high cut so that much of her belly was exposed but her plain collar hung loosely. Thankfully, her collar was no lower than her shoulder blades. Although Nhutalu hadn't yet seen what she actually looked like in her new outfit, she could feel how exposed she was. Her arms were the only parts of her covered properly, but even they were covered with a very sheer material. At least it was summertime and she'd only really be cold at night and in the morning. Of course, she recalled, it had rained practically every day since she brought Yzma back to the palace. At least, it had to some extent.  
"So what did I do to deserve this coveted position?"  
"Well, you know how when you brought me back to the palace and made that potion for me?"  
Nhutalu nodded. "Yeah."  
"You could very easily have killed me -- either by purposefully getting the potion wrong or by accidentally doing so."  
There was an idea. "I suppose."  
Yzma smiled -- almost nicely.  
"I still don't see why I have to wear this outfit."  
Simply, it was an easier way to guarantee Nhutalu's subservience to her. But Yzma told her, "It's to make sure no one else in the palace mistakes you for . . . something you're not."  
Nhutalu frowned, glancing down at herself. For some reason, she resented Yzma's comment. "So," she asked, against her better judgment. "What will you have me do?"  
"Oh," replied Yzma, glancing at her fingernails, "you'll see."  
  
"So, did I ever tell you about my theme park idea?" Kuzco asked as he and Pacha made their way down a heavily wooded path. Just beside them, Misty plodded along, a small cart strapped to her saddle and creaking on the road behind her.  
Pacha froze, mid-stride. Cringing, he guessed, "Kuzcotopia?"  
Kuzco grinned, tossing a glance over his shoulder at his friend, who remained frozen to his spot. "Hey, I'd like to get to Nhutalu's sometime soon," he reminded Pacha.  
"Oh, oh, right. Sorry." Pacha slowly caught up with the young emperor.  
"Well, anyway. I was gonna build Kuzcotopia --"  
"I thought your little home was Kuzcotopia."  
"Nah. See, what I was thinking was having a theme park that everyone could go to and enjoy."  
"How . . . Generous of you."  
" . . . For a tiny entrance fee, of course."  
"A fee?!" Pacha cried. "Whoever heard of such a thing?"  
"Wellsure." Kuzco turned and winked at his large companion. "The villagers expressed their displeasure with being taxed. So I'll . . . tax them in a way they won't realize they're being taxed."  
Pacha stood in awe. Despite some obvious flaws, Kuzco's idea actually sounded good. "When did you get this idea?"  
"One of the days I was with Nhutalu. She mentioned how much her parents hated paying their taxes." Kuzco paused, shrugging slightly. "Can't imagine why. Since all the money went to benefit me. Er, the villages, I mean."  
Suddenly, Pacha quickened the pace slightly, leaving Kuzco a few steps behind him. "So, what's the theme for this place gonna be?" He asked.  
Jogging to catch up, Kuzco replied, "Uh, doy, Pacha, what else? Me."  
"And for a second there, I thought it might've been Talu."  
"Actually, I was gonna have a place for her stuff . . . In a section I was gonna call Futureland."  
"Maybe Chicha did hit you a bit hard with that frying pan . . ."  
"Hey!"  
Pacha chuckled. "Futureland," he scoffed. "What else are you going to have?"  
"See, that's where I needed your help. I considered having it themed to the story of my life. Y'know, it'd be happy during my rule and then there'd be this scary part -- which, of course, would by Yzma's reign of terror and the whole llama thing."  
"Hmm. So, how are you going to split all of this up, anyway?"  
Suddenly, Kuzco stopped in his tracks, a new idea striking him. "I know!" He cried, clapping his hands together gleefully. "I'll call it Kuzcoland, not Kuzcotopia! And inside Kuzcoland will be smaller lands and inside those will be districts!"  
Pacha glanced at Kuzco out of the corner of his eye, prodding him reluctantly to continue down the path. "Hey -- uh -- why would there be lands within a land?" He asked.  
Kuzco waved at Pacha to silence him. "Don't question genius!"  
Pacha groaned. It was going to be a long trip.  
  
Nhutalu gently set the stack of plates down on the table, listening to them clatter against each other for a moment. When Yzma said she would have stuff to do, Nhutalu never imagined that she would be a maid. As lousy as it was, she figured it could be worse -- if she was working out in the fields. But Yzma had given her a place to rest and a couple other outfits. Though all similar to the one she'd been wearing since yesterday, a couple of them had a little more cloth so that she was not required to bare her midriff. And any amount more of covering was perfectly fine by her. Wearing outfits like that was strange to her and she felt as if she would never get accustomed to them.  
With a sigh, Nhutalu placed the cutlery on the table from where they had been atop the stack of plates. In the bundle of silverware were two slender, white tapering candles. She frowned, picking them up. The candles in the centerpiece on the table had barely been used and she was expected to replace them. It seemed wasteful to her. Reluctantly, she removed one candle from the centerpiece, then the other. As she went to place the new ones in their holders, she accidentally knocked the centerpiece over. With a gasp, Nhutalu watched as the Naylamp idol clattered against the tabletop in two separate pieces.  
"Oh no --" she cringed, rushing to fix it. "Oh please don't be broken!" Reaching for the top of the centerpiece, Nhutalu was shocked to see that it was not actually just a table decoration. Beneath the small statue of Naylamp was a rounded knife, jutting out from beneath the god's feet.  
Slowly, Nhutalu picked the figure up to look at it. It appeared to be used but she couldn't guess -- or imagine -- how. Before she gave it further thought, she wedged both unused candles into the holders in Naylamp's hands and quickly set it back on its pedestal, hoping that she had not broken it. To her relief, it seemed okay. As long as no one noticed, she wouldn't be in trouble.  
Just as soon as Nhutalu set the last utensil in its proper place, Yzma came into the dining room, joined by a few other people. For whatever reason, Yzma was surprised when she noticed how her indentured servant had set the table.  
"Nhutalu!" She gasped. "How did you know how to do this right?"  
Nhutalu shrugged, inching back away from the table. "That's the way we always did it at my house."  
Yzma instantly frowned. "That's peculiar."  
"Why?"  
"Nothing. Nevermind." If the girl didn't realize what was so strange, Yzma was certainly not going to point it out to her. Although curious about it, she decided she was better off ignorant to the subject. "Won't you join us?"  
Nhutalu shook her head. "No thank you. That is, if you don't mind."  
"Suit yourself," replied Yzma, "but you'll be hard-pressed to find food anywhere else in the palace."  
"I will make do," Nhutalu said. "If you'll excuse me." With that, she left the dining room hastily.  
Despite the fact that she was starved, Nhutalu had something a bit more urgent to attend to. Although escape was on her mind, she was not about to leave. She couldn't imagine being turned into a llama again and if she left, there was little doubt Yzma would hunt her down, find her and punish her accordingly.  
Nhutalu glanced over her shoulder apprehensively. If Yzma caught her, the chances were good she would be chastised. She didn't know if Yzma would actually beat her but she knew that she didn't want to find out. And what she was doing would have definitely warranted a punishment of some sort.  
Silently, the peasant girl eased open the door to Yzma's lab. Without further hesitation, she made a bee-line straight for the owl-shaped cabinet. The whole thing was stocked with small bottles filled with pink liquid and corked tightly. Nhutalu knew all too well how splendidly they worked. She pulled one bottle from the middle shelf decisively and tucked it into the waistline of her skirt. Smiling to herself, she whispered, "Just in case."  
  
It had been a lengthy trip and Kuzco had long-since grown tired of talking about Kuzcoland. Instead, his statements turned into persistent whines.  
"Are we ever gonna get there? I feel like I won't even recognize Talu if this trip takes any longer!" Kuzco complained.  
Pacha sighed, trying to ignore the tightening knots in his stomach. His appetite had diminished since they left his family but thankfully, Kuzco had been so wrapped up in himself that he had barely even noticed. Which was perfectly fine with Pacha since he was not done avoiding telling Kuzco about Nhutalu's family. When it came down to it, Pacha had no idea where he'd even begin.  
"We'll get there soon enough," Pacha reluctantly assured the young emperor. "It's just over this next hill."  
Kuzco stopped immediately, facing Pacha. "Do you mean to tell me that as soon as we get over this hill, I'm gonna see Nhutalu again?"  
Pacha didn't like making promises that he was not sure he'd be able to keep. "Uh . . . Yeah. I guess." He had no doubt Nhutalu would be there. His uncertainty was whether or not Kuzco would be allowed to see her.  
"Really?" Without waiting for a reply, Kuzco tore the remainder of the way up the hill. At its peak, he stopped and gasped at the view before him. It was a small village, nestled in the shadow of its surrounding hills. Nhutalu had been right -- maybe her village had done little to nothing to help out the empire but it was beautiful and cozy.  
And it was where she told Kuzco she would be. He glanced back at Pacha as Pacha was slowly, steadily making his way up the hill. "C'mon!" Kuzco pointed at the village. "We're almost there!"  
"I'm comin'," Pacha muttered. For the first time since meeting the emperor, Pacha was beginning to regret befriending him. He sighed heavily.  
As they descended the other side of the hill, Kuzco asked, "So, which hut is it?"  
"It's the first one we'll see --"  
Kuzco took off at a sprint before Pacha could even finish, his target already in sight.  
"Cusi!" Pacha yelled after him. "Wait! Please!"  
As Kuzco skidded to a halt only a few feet from the door, he finally stopped to catch his breath, allowing Pacha a couple extra minutes to catch up, gasping heavily.  
"Why didn't you just break their door down?" Pacha barely managed to ask.  
Kuzco smiled slowly. "I hadn't thought about it," he replied simply. Boldly, he went over and knocked on the hut's front door. In the back of his mind, he was hoping Nhutalu would be the one to open it. She would be elated, run to greet him, and he would surprise her with the news that he was the emperor. Nodding, he was quite satisfied with that outcome.  
Pacha, however, was not quite so optimistic. He was practically chewing his fingernails off.  
Slowly, the door eased open and a pair of deep dark eyes peered out. Kuzco's smile instantly fell. Though similar in many ways, they were not Nhutalu's. They looked him over at first, then darted at Pacha. It was at that instant that the door flew open and someone leapt out, hugging Pacha fiercely.  
"Pacha!" She cried.  
Pacha smiled for a fleeting moment, hugging the woman back. "It's good to see you again, Aunt Nina."  
Kuzco gaped at Nina. The resemblance to Nhutalu was down-right startling. If that's what Nhutalu would look like in years to come, he would not be one to complain.  
Nina turned around, calling back inside the house, "Capac! Come out here! Pacha's come to visit --" she stopped, mid-sentence, glancing at Kuzco. "Wait a minute." Her glee quickly died out, her forehead suddenly attaining a great amount of wrinkles and she then showed her age. "Pacha? Why are you here? Is something wrong?"  
Capac quickly stepped outside as well, joining his wife. "Pacha!" He cried, offering a hearty slap on the arm.  
"Nothing's wrong," Pacha told Nina, his stomach instantly feeling as if he had been dropped from a great height. Like it did when he was strapped to the log with Kuzco, careening down the 'raging river of death.'  
"Lemme handle this," Kuzco interrupted, squeezing his way between Nhutalu's parents and Pacha. "Uh -- hi, Capac. Nina. I actually came to see Nhutalu. Your daughter."  
"Nhutalu's not here," Nina said, becoming even more worried. "She never came back. Is she not with you?"  
"Who are you?" Demanded Capac, narrowing his eyes at Kuzco.  
"Cusi, don't --" Pacha started.  
"I'm Emperor Kuzco," he said, introducing himself with a wide smile.  
Nina gasped, recoiling in fear. Capac, however, responded quite differently. "Get off our property!" He yelled, suddenly infuriated. "Leave! Now!"  
"But what about Nhutalu?" Nina cried, reaching out for Pacha.  
Capac kept yelling, oblivious to Nina's distress.  
So shocked by the response, Kuzco never even gave thought to the fact that, technically, it was his property, since it was in his empire. It was only after he and Pacha had been chased a safe distance away that he realized something.  
"Wait." He slowly turned around, glowering at the hut they'd hastily left. "They have no right to treat me like that!"  
Pacha cleared his throat gently, scarcely believing what he was about to tell the emperor. "Actually . . . They do."  
"What?!"  
With a long sigh, Pacha finally told him, "Kuzco . . . You kicked them out of the palace."  



	7. 

Chapter Six  
  
"Did I walk ? Did you run ?  
What's the way to love someone ?  
Oh, my Darling did we know  
What it meant when we let go . . .  
How can a candle ever burn so bright ?  
Casting a shadow on my life,  
I am blinded by your light  
Even without you ."  
  
~By Belinda Carlisle , "Vision of You"  
  
Nhutalu brushed a strand of hair out of her eye, then slowly hefted the container of water up onto her shoulder. Some of it splashed over the edge of the container, soaking her back with the chilly liquid. She shivered, slowly making her way back to the palace. Yzma would be waiting for her there.  
It had been a week since Nhutalu had been brought back to the palace. She fully expected that the work she would be doing would be physically taxing. As it was, the most demanding task required of her was just fetching water from the nearby pond and even that was not so objectionable. Granted, she would rather be doing other things. Other things involving a certain guy she left behind in Pacha's village.  
Yzma glanced up as her slave entered her lab and lowered the container of water from her head to the floor. Carefully, Yzma watched Nhutalu. Something was making the girl happy and it was doubtfully anything Yzma was forcing her to do. So that meant she had to be up to something and that was of concern to her.  
"Have a seat," Yzma told her.  
Quickly, and rather gratefully, Nhutalu obeyed. After a few minutes of sitting beside Yzma, Nhutalu finally asked, "What are you doing?"  
Yzma paused, glancing between two concoctions and then up at the girl. She gave Nhutalu a disarming smile. "I'm working on a youth serum," she replied simply. "Fetch me that vial on that table over there." She stretched a bony finger in the general direction of the container she wanted.  
Nhutalu silently retrieved it and handed it to Yzma, going out of her way to avoid touching the withering old woman's hand.  
Yzma set the container on the table and watched Nhutalu as the girl sat back down in her chair.  
"What?" Nhutalu asked.  
"Tell me about yourself."  
Nhutalu blinked, startled. "What?"  
"Tell me about yourself," Yzma repeated, a bit more forcefully than before.  
Nervously, Nhutalu replied, "Well -- there's not much to tell . . ."  
In a demeanor more catty than human, Yzma leaned her chin upon her skinny hand and told the girl, "Oh, but there must be."  
Beginning to play with the hem of one of her sleeves, she began, "I don't remember much of my childhood. It was . . . very boring, just my parents and me. I wished for siblings and dreamed of someday seeing the palace." She paused, then added with a lengthy sigh, "I hoped I'd find myself a good man who would take care of me, who would want to raise a family with me . . . I never wanted to seem selfish with my silly little requests, but I also hoped for a man who maybe had a little bit of his own land, one who could give me the things my parents could never afford." Although lost in thought about Kuzco, Nhutalu didn't exactly see him as the fatherly type. In fact -- to her knowledge -- he didn't have much of anything that Nhutalu initially wanted for herself. She did see him as a good man, but everything else appeared to be missing. Perhaps it was simply his age; she wasn't all that eager about having children at that point, either.  
"You sound disappointed."  
"I never got the siblings I wished for. I finally got to see the palace but the Emperor is no where to be found."  
"You're not missing much," Yzma informed her quickly. "He did nothing of use for the Empire. He was foolish and self-absorbed. He cared for no one other than himself and was willing to do anything to get his way."  
Nhutalu glanced down sadly. "So what my parents said was true."  
"Yes. . . . If that's what they said."  
"Pacha, Chicha and Cusi didn't seem to think so."  
About to go back to work on her concoction, Yzma stopped abruptly. Yzma had gotten to know everyone in Pacha's village over the course of the year she was stuck there as a feline. And the name Cusi was unfamiliar to her. She also knew the only person who'd gotten reasonably close to Pacha and his family had been Kuzco. "Cusi?" She stammered.  
"Yeah, Cusi. He lives on the hill beside Pacha and Chicha's hut . . ." Blushing, Nhutalu added pointedly, "He and I were close." Close to what, exactly, she was not sure.  
That clinched it. There was only one hill neighboring that of Pacha's. And only one person who lived atop that hill, which coincidentally, did not exist prior to the construction of Kuzco's village residence. Yzma barely managed to swallow her gasp. So he wasn't hiding from her. Her eyes widened, then narrowed. He calls himself Cusi now . . . Could he not even pick a fake name for himself that didn't even remotely resemble his real one? She wanted to laugh. Of everything she could think of saying, all Yzma could ask was, "Close?"  
"I would be inclined to think that he loved me. But he never told me so."  
  
Kuzco was angry. He had not so much as uttered a word to Pacha for two days and the trip home was already half-way over. Not only that, but Nhutalu was uncounted for and it was undoubted that Capac and Nina were worried sick about her. And they were also probably wondering what the Emperor wanted with their daughter. But because Kuzco could not keep his mouth shut, they had had to make a hasty retreat and Pacha did not get the chance to explain anything to Capac or Nina. There had been multiple times when Pacha had considered going back to speak with them. Beside the fact that he could not leave Kuzco alone in the jungle, Pacha wouldn't even know what to tell Nhutalu's parents. He had no idea where she'd disappeared to and knew they would be displeased to find out about the relationship their daughter had with the Emperor. Perhaps it was just as well that he hadn't talked with them.  
Pacha sighed, running his fingers through his hair. After a moment, he chanced a glance at his silent companion and ventured to strike up a conversation. "Emperor Kuzco?" Pacha whispered, calling him by a name he had not used since Nhutalu came to stay at his home.  
Kuzco didn't respond, almost as if he had not heard Pacha at all.  
"C'mon, Kuzco," Pacha cried. "Talk to me!"  
After a long moment of silence, Kuzco finally opened his mouth and Pacha quickly learned to regret suggesting the talk.  
"Why didn't you tell me?!" Kuzco hollered, completely losing his temper.  
"Well, I --"  
"How long did you know about that?"  
"Uh . . ." Pacha coughed nervously. "Since, uh, they left the palace."  
"You know, I don't even remember kicking them out! In fact, I don't even remember them. At all!"  
"There's a good reason for that. You were five -- I think."  
Kuzco frowned, narrowing his eyes at Pacha. "How do you know this?"  
"Capac and Nina had been your parents' servants for most of their lives. They met, fell in love and had Nhutalu while living in the palace. It was the day you kicked them out that they came to Chicha's family -- I was over that day, Chicha and I were only friends at the time -- and they were seeking a place to live since they had lost the only home they'd ever had. They told us everything."  
"Really. Then what allegedly happened?"  
"You know, I'm not sure. They weren't sure. They think they accidentally stood in your way a moment too long or something. No one seems to know. One minute everything was fine and the next minute, you were crying your eyes out, ordered them banished from the palace and . . . That was it. They barely even had time to grab Nhutalu."  
Kuzco put his face in his hands.  
"It was my guess," Pacha said reluctantly, "that the young heir to the throne was testing out the extent of his royal powers that day . . . And Capac and Nina were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." The main reason Pacha was so hesitant to share his opinion was in fear that Kuzco would misinterpret what he'd say. Sure enough, his instinct was correct. Perhaps if he'd taken a moment to think about his words before he'd spoken, Kuzco's response could have been avoided.  
"So you're saying this is all my fault?" Kuzco asked in an unstable hush, slowly glancing up from his hands to glare at Pacha.  
"No --"  
"That Nhutalu's missing and her parents won't talk to us because of something I did when I wasn't even old enough to know the meaning of the words 'you're fired'?"  
"Kuzco --"  
"I was five! That was fourteen years ago and they're still holding a grudge because a tiny mistake was made?"  
"Wait --" Telling Kuzco his honest opinion proved very foolish on Pacha's part. He couldn't even get two words in.  
"I didn't know what I was doing!" And thus it began, Kuzco's dark eyes welling up with tears of frustration. "My parents wanted nothing to do with me when I was growing up so they appointed two people to watch over me -- a guy who was a total dolt, nothing even remotely resembling a proper father figure and Yzma! Yzma tried disciplining me but I always ignored her because -- well -- because she was your typical scary-beyond-all-reason hag! She played with the dead people of the palace and I wondered how eager she was to do the same to me! And the guy -- he was just too offish to do much of anything! You know the guy who presented that pathetic line-up of potential brides this year? That was one of his old jobs in the palace! But you know -- he and Yzma managed to do one thing according to my parents' rules."  
"Kuzco, listen --" Pacha tried interrupting gently when Kuzco finally stopped for a breath. He didn't get very far, however.  
"I wasn't allowed to play with any of the other kids in the palace. There were tons of 'em who always played together, one group in particular who stayed by the throne; I guess that's where their parents worked. I got to sit by myself and watch them having fun without me. But . . . There was this one girl who was always left out -- I don't know why -- and she stood just outside the group, watching. Left out. Just like I was. I wanted to play with her because she was the only one I had anything in common with -- we were both lonely!"  
"Please, stop --" This was far more than Pacha wanted to hear. He felt bad enough about the situation already and finding out about all this was making him feel worse, yet -- if that was even possible.  
"So one day I tried approaching the girl. Yzma saw -- that old bat -- and reprimanded me. You see, the only one I was allowed to play with was the one person who wanted nothing to do with me -- my sister."  
  
Yzma scratched her head. No matter which way she approached the situation, she could not find a way to comprehend it. Someone liked that bratty little emperor. No. By the way Nhutalu spoke of him, it appeared that she loved him. But that just couldn't be.  
Shaking her head, Yzma asked, "What was it that you saw in this Cusi boy of yours?"  
Nhutalu sighed wistfully, slouching in her chair slightly. "He was charming. Considerate and romantic. He had this sense of humor and this way to cheer me up even when I didn't want him to. He was . . . just . . . the nicest, sweetest and most caring thing ever." Without thinking, she placed her hand gently atop the wooden heart Kuzco had made for her. It was the one thing Yzma had not taken away from her when she'd been forced into her slave outfit. Nhutalu believed that was because Yzma didn't notice it. All the better, Nhutalu couldn't imagine not wearing it now and was quite grateful it wasn't taken away from her. "I could just about drown in his eyes -- his smile would give me butterflies and when -- when he kissed me, I'd go weak in the knees and he'd have to hold me up in his warm arms . . ."  
Yzma could no longer concentrate, though she couldn't understand why. She needed a few moments alone to think, perhaps steady her stomach, and suddenly felt as if she had to get rid of Nhutalu. Only one excuse popped into mind. "There's a plant that grows on the south side of the palace -- it has giant red flowers." Yzma shoved a small container in Nhutalu's hands. "Fill this with its berries."  
Frowning, Nhutalu stood. "Very well."  
Yzma attempted to ignore the thoughts that nagged her relentlessly -- memories of a painful past in the palace with Kuzco and his family. There were things she never wanted to admit to but she wondered if confessing them -- even if only to herself -- would help relieve things that had plagued her for years.  
  
Nhutalu grumbled, glaring at the glass in her hands. It was these tasks that she disliked most; the ones that seemed pointless, as if Yzma thought them up out of nowhere. This one seemed especially contrived.  
Wandering the palace, she almost had that unnerving sense of deja vu, the same feeling she was desperate to dismiss when she first laid her eyes upon Kuzco. As Nhutalu stood there, lost amongst vague recollections of things which made little sense, a hand came down on her shoulder. She jumped with a yelp of surprise and whirled around. There towered a palace guard, the muscles on his arms twitching slightly as he looked down at her. His expression was one she had never seen before and it made her unspeakably uncomfortable.  
She took an uncertain step away from the man, struggling to swallow her apprehension. "May I help you?"  
The guard, pursing his lips slightly, gave her a lingering once-over. "I think you could, Sip'u siki."  
Nhutalu quite audibly gasped, her eyes widening.  
"Come with me," the guard told her simply, as if the sort of thing was routine. He took Nhutalu by her wrist but she managed to pull it back out quickly.  
"I'm not what you say I am!" She cried, recoiling.  
"Then why are you dressed as a concubine?" He asked, sincerely confused.  
"I -- I --" Nhutalu glanced down at herself, at the clothing she wore out of necessity since Yzma had taken her frumpy red dress and poncho away. Was that how Yzma saw her -- a slave of that sort? Was that how Yzma had intended the others in the palace to see her? "I'm not that kind of servant!"  
Nonetheless, obviously quite enthralled with Nhutalu's appearance, the guard continued to pursue her. When she struggled, he merely pulled her into his arms and removed her from the ground, carrying her away from her destination.  
In desperation, Nhutalu sank her nails into the delicate skin of his wrists, prompting the guard to release her. Certain that he would not give up so easily, Nhutalu took the chance to reach for the vial tucked securely into her skirt against her waist.  
  
Pacha was close to tearing his straight black hair out. The good news was that he had gotten Kuzco to start talking to him again. The not-quite-so-good-news was that Kuzco had not stopped talking since. Not that Pacha minded. This continuous banter of Kuzco's was not as grating as his typical never-ending speeches about himself. But the problem was that Pacha could not figure out what to say to Kuzco.  
The whole being kicked off Nina and Capac's property fiasco turned into a lengthy rant about Kuzco's lonely childhood. From there he decided to psychoanalyze himself.  
"So all through my childhood I had no one but myself," Kuzco said.  
"Uh huh," Pacha replied in monotone.  
"That's why I've clung to My Wampy. It was my only friend. I think that's why I'm clinging to it still. Trying to capture a childhood I never really had -- and hanging on to it desperately."  
"You don't say."  
Kuzco hadn't noticed for the entire duration of the rant that Pacha was only humoring him. It didn't matter; Kuzco was having this discussion to and for himself, anyway. Pacha just happened to be eavesdropping, in a way.  
"I think that's why Nhutalu left me."  
Pacha froze.  
Kuzco turned to him, even sadder than he'd been before. "And this is what you meant when you said someday I'd wind up all alone. Isn't it."  
Pacha was in shock. Kuzco remembered that whole conversation and Pacha couldn't understand why. "Well, I . . ." He stammered. In a way, it had been what he meant. He never imagined Kuzco would find out, though -- considering that up until Nhutalu came to visit, Pacha never slated him as the type to fall in love. In fact, Pacha wondered how long Kuzco would be able to evade choosing a bride. Getting to see the way Kuzco treated Nhutalu -- as if she was a goddess -- had left Pacha speechless.  
"How can I fix things?" Kuzco pleaded, latching on to the wide collar of Pacha's poncho.  
Pacha shook his head, really not wanting to state the obvious suggestion. For many reasons, he tried to swallow his opinion; one of which was because he knew it was a fairly dangerous option. Without a doubt, one he'd get pulled into.  
"C'mon, tell me!"  
"Well . . . You could go back to the palace to reclaim your throne." Again, Pacha learned quickly to regret stating his suggestion -- even if he was right. He never got the chance to explain that if Kuzco sat on his throne, he could send out an edict along with all the palace guards and servants, to find Nhutalu and bring her to the palace.  
Kuzco sighed, stomping off down the path.  
Pacha knew that until they found Nhutalu, Kuzco would be intolerable.  
  
Nhutalu stepped outside the south exit of the palace, her legs still weak and quickly cooling sweat matting her hair to her cheeks and to the back of her neck.  
There sat Ysalane on the stone steps, lost in thought and a delicate hand resting on the tiny area of stomach that had swollen just below her breasts. But she was not so lost that she did not notice Nhutalu's presence. Ysalane glanced up warily at the girl, looking her over. The girl must have been new to the palace, Ysalane figured. "Can I help you?" She asked.  
Nhutalu glanced at her, so confused that at first, she didn't reply. "I -- I'm sorry. I just came to collect some of those red things." She pointed to the plants on the other side of the stairway.  
"I apologize if I'm in your way." Ysalane stood slowly, her back arched under the weight of her tummy. She pushed it out, almost as if emphasizing her pregnancy.  
As Ysalane stood up, Nhutalu got a better look at her clothing and instantly -- very awkwardly as well, without the use of her arms -- dropped to her knees, bowing. "I'm sorry, Your Highness -- I did not see --"  
The pregnant woman, as Nhutalu finally noticed, was dripping with gold of all sorts; in the cloth she wore and in the jewelry which waited down her ears, her arms and ankles, and her neck.  
Ysalane quickly helped Nhutalu up, taking her by the elbow. "Cute guinea pig," Ysalane commented, stroking the back of the rodent that was in Nhutalu's arms. "Is he what's for dinner?"  
Nhutalu had considered that but figured he'd still taste too reminiscent of palace guard. She smiled, though shaking her head. "No, Your Highness, he is not. He's my pet." At least it was an appropriate fate.  
"Your pet?" Ysalane giggled slightly, almost in disbelief. "How whimsical."  
"Uh huh. Would you like to hold him, Your Highness?" Nhutalu asked, passing the rodent to Ysalane. "By the way, Your Highness, my name is Nhutalu."  
"Nice to meet you, Nhutalu. I'm Ysalane." She glanced down at the guinea pig. "How'd you know it's a he?"  
With a smirk, Nhutalu replied, "Trust me, Your Highness, I know." After a pause, she added, "Thank you for helping me with my chores." She bowed slightly instead of saying Your Highness again. She wasn't sure exactly where in the royal structure this girl Ysalane stood, so she kept with the general way of addressing a member of the Emperor's family.  
"Chores?" Ysalane blinked. "Since when does a Sip'u Siki have chores? I mean other than pleasing whatever man wants to be pleasured."  
"I am not a concubine!" Nhutalu gasped at herself and bowed quickly, whispering, "I'm sorry, Your Highness . . ."  
Ysalane still flinched at the girl's response. "But your attire--"  
"It's what Yzma made me wear!"  
Hearing the old advisor's name, Ysalane actually recoiled. "You work for her?!"  
"Not out of choice," Nhutalu told her, beginning to gather the berries. "She threatened me with bodily harm if I didn't work for her." But, she realized, Yzma didn't threaten her with harm if she were to disobey. There was an option she just discovered she had.  
"Seems like something Yzma enjoys doing," Ysalane said sadly.  
Nhutalu paused as she was reaching out again for the plant and glanced back at Ysalane. "Are you okay, Your Highness?"  
Ysalane nodded absently. "Yeah. Yeah. So -- what's your guinea pig's name?"  
"I -- uh -- haven't named him yet. I've only had him for a little while -- less than a half hour would be my guess."  
"Oh."  
Nhutalu resumed her chore, suddenly thinking back to when she'd shoved the bottle of potion into the guard's mouth, before he'd had a chance to assault her further. For that instant she had feared the potion wouldn't work despite having found out herself how well the llama potion worked. She had fearfully watched the pink smoke clear, only to find a small, brown and white guinea pig standing there, glancing around in a typical guinea pig's highly paranoid fashion. She considered leaving him there -- it would serve him right -- but just couldn't bear doing that. Thus, she attained her first pet.  
The container filled quickly since it was small and, in turn, the berries fairly large. Only three or four would fit in Nhutalu's palm at one time.  
"I'm sure Yzma's waiting for these," Nhutalu said, reluctantly gathering what belongings she had taken with her on the excursion; the guinea pig.  
Ysalane sighed. "It was nice to meet you, Nhutalu." After a brief pause, she added, "If you, uh, happen to see the Emperor -- tell him that I miss him." For some reason to Nhutalu, it sounded as if Ysalane was trying to trick her.  
Nhutalu nodded, quickly heading back to Yzma's secret lab. It was difficult for her to hide the growing smirk on her face because the trick was actually on Ysalane. Nhutalu didn't know what the Emperor looked like.  
  
The hut had been silent for many days. Beside the fact that Pacha and Kuzco were gone, Chicha had realized just how much she missed Nhutalu's company. If Chicha had been nearly anyone else, she would have been angry and bitter at Nhutalu for leaving. Chicha knew the girl had to go home but wondered why she opted to do it.  
Nhutalu was an only child and both Nina and Capac, although wonderful people and loving parents, harbored much bitterness because of things in their past. They kept many secrets from their only child, too, which Chicha simply could not understand. But Chicha promised her aunt -- Nina, Nhutalu's mother -- that she would never say anything. Pacha had sworn to do the same. All these secrets, Chicha knew, would lead to many people being hurt. She was also curious to find out what Nina and Capac thought about their daughter's relationship with the Emperor.  
Chicha gasped, grasping the corn she was husking tightly. Certainly Nhutalu knew who Cusi really was by then. She was sad, thinking that she'd missed seeing Nhutalu's face when Kuzco broke the news to her. Nhutalu wanted to meet the Emperor so much, too. Chicha smiled. Perhaps the whole charade was over and Kuzco would reclaim his throne with Nhutalu at his side as the Empress.  
It was an impossibly good scenario, needless to say.  
"Mom?" Tipo approached Chicha, rubbing the sleep from his right eye with a tightly curled fist. With the other hand, he grabbed one of Chicha's sleeves and tugged on it mercilessly.  
"Tipo?" Chicha asked, instantly snapping out of her daydream. "What are you doing up?"  
"I had a dream and when I woke up, I couldn't get back to sleep!" He complained.  
Chicha put the partially husked ear of corn down, picking Tipo up and pulling him onto her lap. "It's okay, Sweetie," she comforted him. "Why don't you tell me about your dream?" Deep down she hoped it would provide some insight into all the excitement that she missed by staying home.  
Tipo shrugged slightly. "Nhutalu came back."  
"She did?" Chicha looked up excitedly.  
"No," Tipo giggled. "In my dream she did, Mom!"  
Chicha frowned, glancing at the eldest of her two sons. "Why did she come back here?" If anything, she should have been going to the palace.  
"I dunno," he replied. "But Emperor Cusi was real glad she was here!"  
"Just Cusi," Chicha reminded him. "And I'll just bet he was."  
"Huh?"  
"Oh, nothing, Sweetie."  
"When will Dad be home?"  
With a sigh, Chicha replied, "I'm not so sure. Should be any day now."  
  
"Yzma?" Nhutalu asked quietly, stepping back inside the secret lab.  
Slowly, Yzma raised her head from its place resting in her palm, as she leaned her elbow on the table. For as little time as Nhutalu had known her, she'd never seen Yzma so lost in thought before. But by the looks of things, Yzma had been quite busy during Nhutalu's absence -- which, she realized while holding the guinea pig closely to her chest, had ended up being much longer than anticipated.  
Yzma, apparently, had been aware of how long Nhutalu had gone missing. "What took so long?" She snapped.  
"I'm sorry," said Nhutalu, hurrying over to the table where Yzma sat. "I, uh, ran into a minor problem."  
Glancing down at Nhutalu's arms, Yzma asked, "What's that?!"  
"It's a guinea pig," she replied defensively. "My pet." The rodent objected loudly to Nhutalu's last two words and began reeting frantically. "Shut up, you," she told it.  
Yzma shook her head, clucking her tongue quietly in disbelief.  
"I brought you the berries you desired." Nhutalu handed Yzma the container filled with freshly picked fruit and Yzma promptly tossed it over her shoulder.  
"Thanks," Yzma muttered, once more concentrating on the potions that sat before her on the table.  
Nhutalu's jaw fell open as she stared at the broken glass and spilled berries on the floor. "But -- I --" she stammered. "Do you know what I went through to get those for you?"  
Yzma glanced over her shoulder at the mess she'd made. "I don't care. But now you can go clean that up."  
Nhutalu was outraged but set to work, nonetheless, Quechuan obscenities running through her mind in a jumble. Not one came to her clearly enough such that she would choose it over the others to yell at Yzma. As a small shard of glass cut her right-hand index finger, Nhutalu decided on her expletive of choice, glanced up at Yzma and opened her mouth. Suddenly, all words escaped her as she caught Yzma looking at her with narrowed eyes.  
"You were going to say something?" Yzma prompted.  
Nhutalu could only request, "Stop looking at me like that."  
"I'll look at you any way I wish," responded Yzma. Much like commenting on the girl's scanty attire, this produced the desired result. Nhutalu withdrew further, and quickly continued the clean-up. "And once you're done there," Yzma added thoughtfully, "you can begin cleaning that table at the far end of my lab."  
Nhutalu sighed, lowering her head once giving a lingering look at the horrendous mess she had yet to clean. Suddenly, being a llama didn't seem too terrible an option. Even being a spider looked appealing at that point.  
After finishing with the broken container and spilled berries, Nhutalu went to clean up the table at the far end of Yzma's lab. She could feel Yzma's eyes on her back and every time she glanced over, she caught Yzma watching her, as if plotting against her. Nhutalu decided that anything -- being a llama, spider, even being dead -- was better than feeling the creepy stare of the old hag as she worked.  
  
Another two days had passed in silence. Apparently, Pacha found out the hard way that the rightful monarch of his Empire was more sensitive than was probably healthy. As they headed up the last stretch of path to Pacha's hut, Chicha went to the door to look out over the village in the hills as she had every night since her husband left. Her heart swelled when she spotted him with the emperor but she was quickly disappointed to see that Nhutalu was not with them.  
Kuzco and Pacha, though lost in a world of silence, were both -- surprisingly -- thinking the same thing. Wherever Nhutalu had disappeared to, they desperately hoped she had returned to Pacha's hut.  
"Chicha," Pacha greeted his wife warmly with a gentle -- but short -- kiss on the lips. Although he wanted more, he didn't want to rub it into Kuzco, who no doubt, was missing Nhutalu more than ever. Chicha pulled back from Pacha and hugged Kuzco. His cold response led Chicha to believe that her inclination was right -- things had not gone well.  
"Pacha?" She asked reluctantly. "Where's Nhutalu? What happened?"  
Lowering his head, Kuzco quickly passed by Chicha and headed straight for the backyard.  
Pacha silently went to follow him but was stopped by a firm hand on his upper arm. "Pacha, Sweetie? Please -- let me."  
Surprisingly, Pacha looked relieved that Chicha wanted to talk to Kuzco. Anything he said only seemed to make things worse. Perhaps Chicha could succeed where Pacha kept failing.  
She stepped out into the backyard timidly and approached Kuzco, who was sitting on a rock with his back to her. Chicha reached out to him, placing a hand on his shoulder reluctantly. "Wanna tell me about it?"  
Kuzco glanced up at her, unashamed to show Chicha his tears.  
"Oh no, don't cry," she told him, her maternal instinct driving her to hug him. Kuzco didn't fight with her; on the contrary, he buried his face in her shoulder and cried.  
Pacha had seen this whole interlude from his spot in the doorway. All he could do was shake his head sadly and turn away. He kept trying to convince himself that none of this had been his fault but he had no such luck. Of course, who was to say that even if he had said something, that Kuzco would even listen to him? He never had in the past. There was no sense in feeling guilty anymore, and besides, if anyone could make Kuzco feel better, it was Chicha. Well, actually, it was Nhutalu. But Nhutalu wasn't there and that was another problem altogether. If Chicha could fix the problem with Kuzco, Pacha could possibly go about thinking up ways to find Nhutalu.  
It was quite a while before Kuzco pulled his head from Chicha's shoulder.  
"Emperor Kuzco?" She whispered.  
"It's not fair," Kuzco told Chicha almost stubbornly. "It's not my fault I kicked Nhutalu's family out of the palace!" He paused for a moment, his eyes widening in what appeared to be fear. "It is my fault! No wonder Nhutalu hates me! Now I understand why she left!"  
Chicha shook her head frantically. "Emperor Kuzco -- listen to yourself!"  
"I am!" He snapped. "And I can't believe it's taken me so long to realize it!"  
"No, no, listen! She doesn't know who you are. And besides, she was only around three or four when she left the palace -- she doesn't remember being there in the first place! And believe me, Nhutalu's parents never told her about that whole thing! Your Highness -- no offense -- but you're being irrational right now." Chicha swallowed thickly, holding her breath.  
"Chicha . . . It doesn't matter anymore. Nhutalu's gone. My throne is . . . no longer mine."  
"Kuzco -- what are you saying?"  
"I -- I need your help. I need you to help me get my throne back and find Nhutalu."  
"Oh." Chicha sighed, glancing at her feet. "Is that all."  
  
One month had passed since Nhutalu had been brought to the palace. There was still no sign of Kuzco and Yzma was surprised at that because she figured he'd come looking for Nhutalu. Of course, Nhutalu never said he even knew where she was. This made Yzma quite anxious, actually. Kuzco probably had a whole elaborate plan to regain his reign and meanwhile, Yzma had grown too comfortable with her power. She would be unprepared if someone were to challenge her.  
Yzma sent Nhutalu out on a useless errand early that morning and had not seen the girl since. But this was good -- just as she'd planned. It gave Yzma a much needed chance to assess the situation around the palace.  
Her endless supply of guards slowly but surely diminished over the course of the last week and no one seemed capable of explaining it. And strangely enough, the guinea pig population had practically tripled. It was nearly impossible to go anywhere in the palace without stepping on one of the large rodents. On top of that, the creatures left the place a total mess. Yzma was disgusted by this and had sent many of her servants out to set traps for them. Every so often, walking from room to room, the sounds of the traps being set off would echo through the palace. Yzma, among many others, found the sound most gratifying. With each snap, however, Nhutalu looked like she would burst into tears. Yzma always dismissed that response to some stupid peasant attribute and never gave it a second thought.  
The passageway to Yzma's lab was particularly silent and empty that day but she barely noticed. She was too wrapped up in trying to think up things to do to Kuzco if he dared to show his face in the City again. There were two options Yzma had at that point; one was to do what had almost worked in the past -- turning Kuzco into an animal. Or she could try the new poison she'd been working on. The problem with the latter, just like the youth serum she'd been working on, is that Yzma had no way of knowing whether or not the potion would actually work. With the dwindling number of palace guards, Yzma could not easily test her poisons on any one random man, fearing that she would quickly wind up with no one to protect her. And she didn't want to try it on Nhutalu -- the girl had proven most helpful, and a future plan to take revenge on Kuzco involved her heavily. Surely if she waited just a little longer, she could find that special way to use Nhutalu against Kuzco. Yzma smiled. It would be even better if Nhutalu didn't know she was being used against the one she cared so much for. Not only would that destroy the Emperor, but it would hurt the girl as well.  
That was a thought. Surprisingly, it was one that Yzma had not had up until that point.  
Nhutalu must have known what Kuzco was up to while hiding out in Pacha's village. And if he felt even remotely as strongly about Nhutalu as she obviously felt about him, then certainly Kuzco would do anything and everything for the girl and he'd follow her wherever she went -- even right into a trap. It all seemed too easy; if Yzma could do without Nhutalu's presence for shortly over a week, she could send Nhutalu to retrieve Kuzco. And with two escorts, she would be guaranteed that Nhutalu would return with Kuzco and no one else.  
Yzma approached her owl-shaped cabinet, noticing that one door had been left slightly ajar. Slowly, she opened the cabinet, looking over each shelf. Everything was normal, up until she looked at the middle shelf, which had been stripped bare. Coincidentally, that shelf had been stocked with only one thing; bottles filled with potions made out of extract of guinea pig. In awe, Yzma stared at the empty shelf. This just didn't make sense. Those potions were supposed to be used as ingredients in other potions and she never used those bottles.  
"Empress Yzma?" One of the remaining guards poked his head into the lab and knocked timidly on the already opened door to announce his presence.  
Impatiently, she replied, "What do you want?"  
"I -- I uh, I don't mean to complain, but . . . Uh, I have a complaint."  
Yzma turned her cold eyes to the guard. "You have . . . a what?"  
"A -- uh -- a complaint." Cautiously, the guard neared Yzma. "In fact . . . Um . . . All of us have complaints." He hesitated before addressing the issue. "Your servant girl is less than agreeable. She's . . . uncooperative."  
"She cooperates with me suitably and she's my servant, not yours."  
The guard sighed, figuring Yzma didn't understand what he meant by 'not cooperative.' He hoped the girl wasn't serving Yzma the way she was meant to serve the palace men. "And, Empress Yzma, uh -- I can't speak for anyone else but I, for one, am getting sick and tired of cleaning those guinea pig traps!"  
With a raised eyebrow, Yzma took note of the guard's concern. "You're in luck," she told him, deciding that she could spare one of her troublesome guards at the expense of finding out of her newest concoction worked the way it was intended. "Because I do have a way to remedy your complaint. But you must come closer."  
The young man breathed a sigh of relief and stepped nearer to Yzma.  
  
Approaching Yzma's lab, Nhutalu saw that the door was wide open. She found this peculiar and stopped for a moment to adjust the basket atop her head. Her neck ached and she would be grateful to relieve the excess weight when removing the basket. Just a few more steps and she would be able to.  
As Nhutalu entered the lab, she caught sight of a large black rabbit as it scurried by her, hastily leaving. She frowned and glanced at Yzma.  
Yzma shrugged and told her, "Set the basket down beside the cabinet." Watching her follow the instructions, Yzma decided to pursue her nagging feeling about the girl. "I have had some complaints about you."  
Nhutalu glanced over her shoulder at Yzma, startled. "I'm sorry?"  
"The guards say you don't cooperate with them."  
"What?" Nhutalu stood stiffly, putting her hand on her waist out of force of habit. She accidentally knocked the empty vial out from under the waistline of her skirt and it fell to the floor, shattering at her feet.  
Yzma's eyes widened. "What was that?"  
She quickly stepped away from the shards and answered as nonchalantly as possible, "Nothing . . . It was nothing . . ."  
Then it dawned on Yzma and she almost felt stupid for not seeing it sooner. "You . . . You little witch! You've been turning all my guards to guinea pigs!"  
Nhutalu took another step away from Yzma. "I -- I -- I couldn't help it!" There was much truth to that statement; using the guinea pig extract had become very much like an addiction. However, it was necessary if she wanted to prevent the guards from advancing on her. "Perhaps if you would give me clothing that would not lead everyone to believe that I'm a concubine --"  
"But you are!" Yzma snapped, watching with delight as Nhutalu recoiled slightly. "You are nothing more than a simple peasant girl! You are my slave!"  
And suddenly, almost as if she heard the accusations through Kuzco's ears, Nhutalu snapped. "No! Stoppit!" She shrieked, reaching for the first thing available to pitch at Yzma.  
Yzma blocked her face from the flying bottle but somehow, in a stroke of luck, managed to catch it without allowing it to shatter against her. She brought it down quickly in her shaking hands, and stared in shock at Nhutalu. "What do you think you're doing?"  
Nhutalu reached for another vial. "I'm trying to get rid of you, you wretch!"  
Angered suddenly, Yzma stomped over to Nhutalu, slapping her hand away from the cabinet. The girl took a few steps back, her hand stinging from the surprising force of the old woman. She glanced up in time to see Yzma preparing to shove the now open vial into her mouth. Nhutalu screamed and dodged it, but just barely. The bright pink potion splashed all over the floor.  
"You're going to kill us both!" Nhutalu cried. "Are you crazy?!" She hoped her screams would echo through the palace and that someone might come running to her aid.  
Of course, who would come to help her? She was the one who was turning the whole fleet of palace guards to a herd of male guinea pigs. Who were being killed in the guinea pig traps left and right. Nhutalu swallowed thickly in fear, her saliva suddenly so sweet that it almost made her want to throw up. Talk about sticking your foot in your mouth.  
Yzma had gone back to the owl-shaped cabinet while Nhutalu had been desperate to seek help from people who didn't care if she lived or died. She began backing away from Yzma, realizing that this potion she had retrieved was not guinea pig extract since she'd long-since emptied that shelf of all its contents.  
"I showed you what happened if you did not cooperate with me, but I guess you need a reminder!" Yzma hissed, throwing the potion at Nhutalu's feet. For some reason, instead of jumping away from it, she reached down and caught it. Without thinking, she charged for Yzma.  
The vial exchanged hands multiple times throughout the fight, until Yzma and Nhutalu were so close to each other, their noses practically touched.  
Then, something happened. The vial popped out of Nhutalu's grasp and flew into the air just above their heads. Screaming in terror, they watched it come back down on them so fast that neither could react quickly enough to duck out of its path.  



	8. 

Chapter Seven  
  
"Girl you are to me   
All that a woman should be   
And I dedicate my life to you always . . .  
Ooh you're like the sun   
Chasing all of the rain away   
When you come around you bring brighter days . . ."  
  
~By Atlantic Starr, "Always"  
  
The scene replayed itself over and over again in Kuzco's mind. For months after that day, Kuzco had nightmares about it, but eventually, they'd gone away. The last time he'd had a dream like that was the day before he met Nhutalu. But this wasn't a dream; he was wide awake.  
Perhaps it was his unspoken fear of going back to the palace that provoked this sudden -- and quite out of nowhere -- flashback. Whatever the reason, as Kuzco packed his belongings, he could not break free of the reverie.  
There he was again, high atop the facade of the palace, hanging on to one of Pacha's hands between his hooves. In endless repetitions he watched the last vial of potion teeter dangerously on the ledge and then, with the gentlest breeze, tip and fall. It was a miracle he wound up with the potion after all that. But one question kept plaguing him; what if luck had not been on his side?  
Just thinking about it was enough to bring back an unwanted flood of memories horrible enough to make Kuzco want to cry. The fear that washed over him, being certain he was destined to remain a llama. He could still feel his heart leaping into his throat and the fear paralyzing him.  
Would his people be willing to follow a llama? Sure, they were willing to follow Yzma, which wasn't too different. But regardless, some people still considered Yzma human, somehow. This, Kuzco could not comprehend.  
Then there was Nhutalu. His whole relationship with her never would have happened had he stayed a llama. Come to think of it, his relationship with Pacha and family would have been ruined, as well. There was no way he ever would have forgiven Pacha for making Kuzco save his life instead of retrieving that last potion.  
When it came down to it, Pacha didn't make Kuzco save him. That was the worst part, knowing that he would have had no one to blame but himself. This 'taking responsibility for your own actions' thing was certainly not as cracked up as it was supposed to be.  
Kuzco slowly picked up his childhood stuffed animal and looked at it in silence. The Wampy had been one of very few possessions touched by Nhutalu. When he closed his eyes, Kuzco could feel her warmth there on the toy. He would have given anything to see her again -- in any state. It had been a month since she'd left and the recollection he had of her in his mind's eye had faded. Putting his stuffed animal into his bag, Kuzco glanced around his room, doing one final sweep of his possessions before he left; possibly for forever. His eyes fell upon a small statue he'd had for most of his life, one that he barely even remembered acquiring. All he knew of it was that it was a likeness of the one girl he used to watch, the one he'd always wanted to play with but was never allowed near. Gently, he picked it up, looking at it. After a moment, he caught a small ray of light shining off its eyes and his nightmarish replaying of the events on the front of the palace were replaced with repressed memories of his childhood. There was one memory in particular, however; the day he had begged and pleaded to have someone carve a statue of the little girl. It was then that he realized who that little girl was.  
  
Nhutalu was tired -- both physically and emotionally. She knew very well where she was but noticed little of her surroundings. Again and again, she could see the vial of potion hanging in the air before hurtling back down on them. She had been frozen in fear at first, but had managed to move far enough away that when the bottle crashed down, she avoided getting the potion on her skin. Her opponent had not been so lucky. After a little over an hour of hesitating, panicking, trying to decide what to do with herself, she opted to flea the palace under the cover of a moonless night. No one would be pleased with what she had done, she was afraid.  
As she headed back to Pacha's village seeking sanctuary, doubts plagued the girl. Would they want her back? How much would she have to lie about her stay in the palace? Worse than all her other worries, Nhutalu wondered if Kuzco would recognize her. It all began to seem very petty but she was nervous and try as she might, she could not ignore the butterflies in her stomach.  
Most of her life had been uncertain. But this venture, going back to Pacha's village, was truly treading on unfamiliar territory. Her anxiety was growing by the minute; she knew Pacha's village was only a few hours away.  
  
"Iwanttogowithyou," Chicha blurted out, taking her husband's hands.  
"What?" Pacha blinked.  
"I want to go with you." She repeated, frowning slightly. "Back to the palace."  
"Chicha, tell me you're joking."  
"No, I'm not! Pacha, I'm sorry, I worry about you!"  
"But I don't think you worry about the kids."  
Chicha stepped back from him quickly, crossing her arms over her chest. "They were going to be with Kronk. Remember, the Junior Chipmunk outing?"  
Pacha paled slightly at the thought. "Even Manco?"  
She sighed, lowering her head. "Yeah, it didn't seem like a good idea to me, either. I was hoping you would reassure me."  
"Chicha . . ."  
"Pacha," she interrupted him, glancing up into his eyes imploringly. "I'm afraid. Who knows what Yzma could do to you! What will the kids do without a father?" Fighting back tears, she whispered, "What will I do without you?"  
Pacha slowly caressed her face with his fingertips just beneath her chin. She looked at him, her eyes now wet and her eyelashes sticking together. "I'll be fine. You'll see. If you want to worry about someone, worry about Kuzco. He needs for someone to worry about him."  
Chicha began to cry, burying her face in Pacha's poncho.  
"What did you say about me?" Kuzco asked, appearing in the open doorway.  
Pacha sighed, reassuring both Chicha and Kuzco, "Everything will work out. You'll see." After a moment, he glanced at Kuzco, who looked visibly shaken. "It'll be okay."  
Kuzco shook his head slowly. "I, uh . . . I wanted to apologize to both of you."  
"What?" Pacha asked, confused. "Why?"  
"Don't worry about the whole Yzma thing. I need to do that. On my own."  
"What? Emperor Kuzco, I can't -- in my right mind -- allow you to face her alone!"  
"You don't think I can handle her, do you."  
"No, no, Your Highness --" Chicha jumped in. "It's not that! But if something were to happen to you -- we'd be as responsible for your death as if we killed you ourselves."  
Kuzco chuckled. "I'm not gonna die. Maybe get turned into a llama again, but I won't get killed. I am the Sun. Immortal."  
Chicha and Pacha frowned at each other. Neither could quite deny that statement seeing as despite the things that had happened to him, Kuzco was still alive. For all they knew, he was immortal. Of course, every Emperor before him had claimed to be invincible and those claims all proved to be inconsequential. The palace tomb was filled with the bodies of monarchs, passed.  
Pacha sighed. "But -- but Emperor Kuzco . . . We made such a good team!"  
Kuzco had been set on going back by himself but it was this statement that caused him to hesitate and even reconsider his decision.  
  
Kronk frowned. Bucky had been sitting on his arm, chattering for ten minutes straight and he'd not understood a squeak. As the small squirrel ran out of breath, his anxious stream of thought slowed.  
Finally, Kronk got his chance to speak. "Squeakity squeak, squeak-squeak, squeakum?"  
Bucky launched into a whole new rant of hyperspeed squirrel-speak.  
"Whoa, whoa now, Bucky -- what?" Kronk scratched his head. "Slow down, little guy, okay?"  
Bucky stopped for a breath and made a small sound, one he hoped Kronk would recognize.  
"Nhutalu?" He asked, rather surprised. It was the only thing he'd managed to decipher. "What about her?"  
Bucky turned a circle on Kronk's forearm, then stopped, stood up on his hind legs and pointed back toward the jungle.  
Kronk glanced up in time to see a silhouette nearing them under the shade of the jungle canopy. "Nhutalu!" Kronk cried, jumping to his feet so quickly that Bucky nearly lost his footing on Kronk's arm.  
Nhutalu was obviously shaken and quite distressed and it took only one glance into her eyes to realize that.  
"Hey, Talu -- you okay?" He asked, attempting to hug her.  
She stopped him, putting her hands on his chest. "No -- Kronk, I've . . . I've been through a lot recently. I, uh -- I just want to go see Chicha."  
Kronk frowned. "Oh. Well . . . Okay. Heh . . . Uh, you know where to find her. Better than anyone else, too, I bet!"  
Nhutalu smiled slightly at him. "Thanks. See you around, Kronk."  
Kronk watched after her as she continued down the path, deep in thought. Something was wrong -- the peasant girl had made that clear by her actions. The problem would be figuring out how to get her to share her feelings. He sighed. If she was anything like Yzma, that would be tough.   
Yzma. The name made his stomach turn to knots. What had he been thinking?  
But he had a nagging feeling that Nhutalu's unease could be traced back to the old hag. Kronk frowned. The peasant girl was coming down the path from the palace, where Kronk knew Yzma was now residing. He sighed, knowing full well the actions he would have to take -- but ones he dreaded acting on. Glancing down at Bucky, Kronk asked him, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"  
Slowly, and after translating, Bucky looked at Kronk and nodded. He didn't like the old witch any more than Kronk did. "Da-bada-dabadabadada!"  
Kronk smiled slightly. "Thanks for your support. Let's go." With that, he headed into Pacha's village after Nhutalu, Bucky on his shoulder.  
  
Kuzco sighed, casting a glance back at Pacha's hut. It had been a long-winded argument but finally, Kuzco had convinced Pacha and Chicha to allow him to go to the palace alone. Thinking about it, he realized he had won a little too easily and figured it was only a matter of time before Pacha would leave his hut in pursuit. Although he expressed his displeasure with this, deep down inside, Kuzco was relieved at the knowledge that his large friend was not far behind. The silence of his travels was beginning to irritate him and each footstep he took was practically deafening.  
Inhale, crunch, crunch, crunch, exhale, crunch, crunch, crunch. Crunch, crunch, CRUNCH, CRUNCH! Kuzco stopped, staring at his feet in disbelief. He hadn't been stomping so it should not have been so loud. It must have been that he was concentrating on it subconsciously. He stood, listening for a moment. Gradually, the sounds of the jungle emerged. The birds, first -- most predominantly the easily recognizable vocalizations of the Golden-Throated Small Winged Warbler. Although one of the more elusive of jungle creatures, its song was hard to miss. Tweet, tweet. But then the frogs joined in. One by one, animal voices joined the cacophony. And through that, one sound still managed to permeate it all.  
Crunch, CRUNCH, crunch, CRUNCH. Kuzco frowned. His feet were not making that sound, seeing as he had not moved from his spot since he'd stopped. "Pacha, I told you, you didn't need to follow me!"  
There was no response. Slowly, he glanced up from his feet. "Pa -- pa -- paaa--" Squeaked Kuzco, suddenly losing all ability to communicate eloquently. Actually, he lost the ability to communicate at all.  
Nhutalu stood a few yards away from him up the path, her hands clasped nervously in front of her.  
"Talu?" Kuzco whispered, blinking quickly in disbelief.  
After a brief hesitation, Nhutalu nodded slightly, a shy smile appearing on her face.  
"Talu!" He cried, sprinting the last few feet to her. "Talu, Talu, Talu, Taaaluuu!" Kuzco pulled her into a tight hug, then began swinging her around. "I thought I'd never see you again!"  
Nhutalu said nothing but burrowed her face into his neck between his shoulder and jaw.  
After a moment, he stopped, setting her back down on the ground. Brushing her hair away from her face, Kuzco told Nhutalu, "You wouldn't believe how much I've missed you!"  
Nhutalu sighed, blinking in an attempt to keep tears from filling her eyes.  
"Talu," Kuzco chuckled almost nervously, "are you going to speak to me?"  
After a moment, she lowered her head. "Cusi?"  
"Yeah?" Oh, that's right. She still didn't know who he was.  
Another moment passed, and she glanced back up at him. "I . . . missed you, too." Nhutalu took him into her arms, squeezing him tightly.  
"Please don't leave me again. Please, please, pleasepleaseplease!"  
She laughed, squirming slightly in his steadily tightening embrace. "I'll, uh -- I'll try not to --" After another of his squeezes, she added, "although I can't imagine I'd be going anywhere anytime soon . . ."  
Kuzco smiled sheepishly, loosening his grip slightly. "I couldn't bear to have you leave me again. Uh - at least, not so soon?" No. Not ever.  
Nhutalu smiled, running her fingers through Kuzco's hair. She tried not to shiver as she reveled in its silkiness. "I'm not going anywhere. I have no reason to."  
Out of nowhere, Kuzco gathered the nerve to do something he'd put off because everyone else thought it was such a bad idea. "Nhutalu --"  
"Yes?" She answered quickly, almost hopefully.  
"I haven't been truthful to you. I wanted to tell you but Pacha wouldn't let me! I'm actually --"  
"Cusi!" Pacha cried, racing for him. "Don't!"  
Kuzco cringed, groaning audibly. "Of course . . ."  
"Talu!" Exclaimed Pacha, practically pulling her out of Kuzco's arms. "Where've you been?!"  
"It's a long story . . ." Nhutalu replied as Pacha hugged her. "I'll tell you all about it if you'll take me back to your place. I'm . . . Kinda tired and hungry."  
"C'mon, 'cmon, then!" Kuzco took her hands and began pulling her back to Pacha's hut.  
"I thought you were going to the palace," Pacha reminded him.  
"The palace," replied Kuzco pointedly, "can wait." To Nhutalu, he softly said, "What happened? Where'd you go when you left me?"  
"Uh -- well, you know, as I was leaving the village, right? Two of, uh, Yzma's guards came and took me to the palace."  
"Why? Did she hurt you? If she did, I'll -- I'll --" He growled. "I'll -- have her imprisoned for life!"  
Nhutalu flinched slightly. "No, she didn't hurt me. Of course she didn't hurt me. Just had me work for her." She paused briefly, before continuing. "It was all fairly uneventful. She worked on some poisons and a youth serum that didn't work and I did chores for her -- getting ingredients, cleaning up, you know."  
"So how'd you end up getting away?" Pacha glanced at Nhutalu apprehensively.  
"Well, I'd been using her guinea pig extract poison on the palace guards . . . Yzma found out about it, kinda lost her temper." She lowered her head, dropping her voice to a whisper. Both Pacha and Kuzco strained to hear the rest of what the girl said. "We got into a fight and one of the vials somehow flew into the air between us. At the last minute, I pulled Yzma beneath the container and it landed on her head. There was glass everywhere, and blood -- some of the potion splattered on me but not enough, I guess, to have an effect on me."  
"Are you okay?" Kuzco asked, stopping to give Nhutalu a hug.  
Nhutalu nodded. "Yeah -- yeah, I think so. I was . . . frightened. I didn't know what to do at first. I don't know how long it was before I decided it would be best to leave. Before anyone could find out about it."  
"So Yzma's in the palace?" Pacha asked.  
Frowning, Nhutalu replied, "Yes . . ."  
Pacha and Kuzco glanced at each other. "It's your chance --" Pacha said pointedly, raising an eyebrow.  
Kuzco narrowed his eyes. "Later, Pacha."  
"But --"  
"Later. There's something more important I have to take care of first." Winking, Kuzco slipped his arm around Nhutalu's waist, leading her ahead of Pacha.  
Pacha sighed, running his hands down his face. That kid would never get back to the palace now.  
  
For a woman five months into her pregnancy, Ysalane moved quickly. So quickly, in fact, that Kelsey, one of the girls from the Emperor's Aqllawasi, could barely keep up with her.  
"Please, Ysalane, slow down!" Kelsey gasped, struggling to keep up with her as they left the house of the Virgins of the Sun.  
"I heard rumors," Ysalane replied, tossing a glance over her shoulder at the youngest of the Chosen girls. "Rumors that she is gone!"  
"Who, Ysalane?"  
Ysalane stopped, turning to take Kelsey's hands in her own. "Yzma. No one can find her!"  
Kelsey gasped. "Where did she go?!"  
Smiling, Ysalane squealed, "Don't know, don't care! If she's gone, she's gone and that's all that matters!"  
"But--"  
"C'mon, hurry! I must find out!" Ysalane pulled Kelsey along, all the way up into the palace.  
"Slow down, Ysalane, be careful! The baby --"  
"I'm fine," Ysalane assured her, heading down the widest passage in the palace. "Oh please be right . . ."  
Kelsey fell silent as she and Ysalane entered the throne room. The young girl, just barely in her teens, had never been in that part of the palace before and she found it utterly awe-inspiring. Its beauty brought tears to her eyes. "This is the throne room?" She whispered, not wishing to break the sanctity of its silence and emptiness.  
Ysalane put her hands to her lips, fighting off her own tears. "It is," she replied in a whisper. "And . . . Yzma's not here!" After a moment, she turned to Kelsey. "Where else might she be?"  
"I'm sorry -- I -- I don't know."  
"Think, Ysalane, think . . ." She tapped her lower lip lightly with her index finger, glancing around the room. "Her 'secret lab!' If Yzma's not here, she's gotta be in her lab!"  
"Secret?" Kelsey gasped.  
"Come on," Ysalane cried. "Hurry!"  
Kelsey was amazed at how quickly Ysalane moved -- so fast that if she hadn't caught up immediately, she'd have been lost in the palace without a guide.  
Guinea pigs were everywhere, Ysalane noticed. She flinched as she saw the strategically placed traps all over, each one with a still rodent body in it. "What a waste," she commented to Kelsey. "Do you realize how many villagers we could feed with these guinea pigs?" Wistfully, she sighed, wishing her little brother was there. He'd have been proud of her idea, possibly even would have acted on it.  
Kelsey nodded slightly. "But -- do we even know how long they've been dead?"  
Ysalane frowned. "Does it matter?"  
The young girl could not answer, as she did not know. Instead, she changed the subject. "Do you know where we're going?"  
Chuckling, Ysalane said, "Everyone knows where Yzma's 'secret lab' is!"  
"Then how is it a secret?"  
"Yzma calls it that," Ysalane replied. "The old hag was disillusioned. Among other things, she believed that no one knew she had a lab -- or where it was."  
"Why do you call it a secret?"  
"Everyone does," Ysalane shrugged. "It's just another way of making fun of Yzma."  
"Oh."  
Ysalane led Kelsey down a dark corridor, noticing all the statues of Yzma. "I'm gonna have to fix that as soon as possible."  
"Fix what, Ysalane?"  
"Nothing -- nevermind." Maybe it was petty and even childish, but keeping those statues of Yzma standing seemed almost blasphemous. But whose statue would she replace them with?  
At the end of the passageway was the door to Yzma's lab -- one that had been left wide open by the person who'd used it last.  
Ysalane approached it cautiously, poking her head inside the room. She scanned it quickly before stepping back, quickly closing the door. "No one's there," she said. "Kelsey -- start a search of the palace for Yzma. Make certain everyone is looking for her."  
Kelsey instantly bowed and replied, "Yes, Your Highness -- Empress Ysalane." She rose, a wide smile on her face. With that, she turned around and sprinted away from the lab, calling out her orders for everyone to hear.  
Ysalane sighed, leaning against the wall, half in shock. Empress Ysalane. She'd never heard that before -- she never even dared bestow that title upon herself.  
Ysalane sank to the floor against the wall, beginning to cry. The only thing there to comfort her were the echoes of her own sobs.  
  
"Uncle Kronkie!" Chaca cried, throwing her arms around Kronk's left leg.  
"Guesswhat, guesswhat, guesswhat?" Tipo piped up, latching on to Kronk's right leg. Before Kronk had a chance to wager a guess, Tipo blurted out the answer for him, "I had a whole long talk with a chipmunk and a squirrel yesterday!"  
"So?" Chaca asked, glancing up at Kronk. "I talked with a squirrel yesterday who told me Nhutalu's coming back!"  
"Nuh uh!" Tipo shot back at his sister.  
"Yeah huh!" Chaca replied. "He said she was wearing the poncho Mom made her and everything!"  
At that point, Kronk realized that neither of Pacha's children would be much help. But he couldn't very well exclude them from a Junior Chipmunk field trip. Not one this important, either.  
Chicha chuckled, coming into the hut from the front yard. "I thought I heard some commotion in here. What's going on?"  
"Uncle Kronkie's here!" Chaca announced unnecessarily.  
Chicha stooped down beside her daughter, peeling her from Kronk's leg. "Thanks for telling me, Sweetie." She smiled, especially when her sarcasm seemed lost on the child. She stood after removing Tipo from Kronk's other leg and asked, "Can I help you?"  
"I just came to get the kids for the camp-out," he told her. "And, of course, to say hi to you."  
Chicha looked away sadly. "How long will they be gone?"  
"About two weeks -- if that's okay. We'll just be along the trail to the city."  
Chicha frowned, wondering if the whole thing was such a good idea. That left her with Manco. She loved Manco as much as she loved Tipo and Chaca, if not more. But truth be told, Tipo and Chaca kept her on her toes and baby Manco was an angel compared to them. He required her to feed him and change him, as any other baby did. But he was quieter than most, strangely able to keep himself entertained. And, as with all babies his age, he could not carry on a conversation. She looked to Pacha to fulfill that need of hers, but if he was not there, she could at least turn to her older children. Although Chaca was undoubtedly precocious, her conversations usually consisted of nothing more than what Tipo was doing that he shouldn't have been, or about how she groomed the llamas with her dad. Things like that.  
If Kronk took Tipo and Chaca on their excursion, Chicha would be virtually alone. But she had already promised them that they could go, and she wasn't about to go back on that, no matter how much she wanted to.  
She sighed. "Tipo, Chaca, go get your things."  
Tipo and Chaca didn't hesitate before racing to their room to get ready to go.  
"Please --" Chicha whispered, putting a hand gently on Kronk's arm. "Take care of them and don't keep them away any longer than you have to."  
Kronk smiled, patting Chicha's shoulder. "They'll be okay. And they'll be back sooner than you know." He winked at her so quickly that she almost missed it.  
Unfortunately, this did not reassure her in the least.  
The kids practically bounded out of their room as hyper as ever.  
Chicha stooped down again to match their height. "You two be careful and good. You listen to what Kronk tells you, okay?"  
"'Kay! Bye, Mom!" Chaca and Tipo said in unison, both giving her a peck on the cheek before grabbing Kronk's hands and dragging him out the door.  
Chicha sighed, sitting down heavily in a chair by the door.  
It was too quiet. So quiet, in fact, that she could almost hear Pacha's voice. "Hi, Sweetie."  
"Oh, Pacha," she breathed wistfully. "If only you were here . . ."  
There was a chuckle. "I am here."  
Chicha stood quickly, turning to the door. "Pacha!" She hugged him even before he was able to prepare himself and it took a moment before he hugged her in return. "I was so eager to hear your voice that I thought I was hearing things!"  
"I see you let the kids go on their camp-out after all," Pacha told her.  
Chicha smiled. "I promised them, didn't I?"  
"Yeah . . . I'm glad you let them -- we could use some time to ourselves --"  
"What about Kuzco? You didn't just leave him out there alone --"  
Pacha led Chicha out to their front yard and pointed out to their neighboring hill. In the hues of the warm sunset, Chicha saw two figures embracing in front of Kuzco's summer get-away. "He found himself a different escort."  
Chicha gasped giddily, putting her hands to her mouth. "You found Talu! Where was she?!"  
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Besides, she'll probably want to be the one to tell you."  
Without thinking, Chicha began heading for Kuzco's place. Pacha was barely able to catch up to her. "Let them have a little while alone to catch up," he said. With a wink, he added, "I want a little while to catch up with you."  
  
"Are you comfortable?" Kuzco asked, sitting down beside Nhutalu in front of the crackling fire.  
Nhutalu glanced around his house, almost as if seeing it for the first time. Then she looked down at her legs and at the floor just behind her. All the pillows Kuzco could find were cushioning her. "I'm very comfortable," she giggled. "Thank you." After a moment, she remarked, "I haven't seen so many pillows in one place outside of the palace!"  
Kuzco blushed, glancing into the fireplace. He could tell her. With Yzma gone, he was finally safe. "Talu --"  
Nhutalu faced him, glancing into his eyes. "What was it like?"  
"What?"  
"What was it like, being turned into a llama?"  
Kuzco practically jumped from his spot beside her. "How -- how did you know about that?!"  
Nhutalu looked at him in silence for a moment. "I'm sorry, was I not supposed to know that?"  
"Well, I didn't tell you!"  
She pouted. "Yzma did."  
Slowly, Kuzco settled down again. "Why do you want to know something like that?"  
"Because I had a similar experience. I was hoping to find someone who would sympathize with me."  
Kuzco's eyes almost seemed to darken. "What did she do to you?"  
The tone of his voice made Nhutalu uncomfortable and her voice caught in her throat at first. "It -- was only temporary but -- she did the llama thing to me, as well."  
He drew in a deep breath. "I don't know how much time passed from when I was poisoned to when I found out. When I saw my face . . . I thought I'd gone completely crazy."  
Nhutalu pulled her knees to her chest and listened to Kuzco intently as he launched into his story.  
"I -- I couldn't walk anymore -- everything sounded strange. My body just -- wouldn't cooperate. I tripped over my own feet --"  
"Hooves," she corrected.  
Kuzco sighed. "Right, hooves . . . I can't imagine what I looked like to Pacha. You know, my back and neck ached for weeks after that. Made it hard to fulfill my royal duties."  
"Yeah, I'd bet."  
Kuzco gasped after another lengthy moment of silence -- it took him that long to realize what he'd accidentally said. And it took just as long for the words to sink in for Nhutalu.  
"Your what duties?" She asked.  
Kuzco lowered his head. "I've been dying to tell you this. I didn't want to deceive you but Pacha kept telling me it was for the best. Talu -- my name's not really Cusi."  
"It's not?"  
"I'm . . . I'm actually Emperor Kuzco. Pleasebelieveme, it'sthetruth, I swear!"  
Nhutalu looked at him for a moment. Slowly, she smiled and leaned her head upon his shoulder. "Of course I believe you. Emperor Kuzco."  
  
"Right. No, no, my right. Now down a little. Okay, perfect, right there. But it needs to be thicker. Get me another pillow. And another one for my legs, too -- my feet are beginning to tingle."  
The servant bowed slightly before backing up a few inches and descending the stairs away from the throne. Her whole existence that day had been wrapped up in confiscating all the pillows in the palace. Her own pillows had been the first to go, followed soon after by the ones her children slept upon. She knew very well what it was like to be pregnant and understood why the Empress wanted pillows. But why Empress Ysalane needed all the pillows in the palace at her disposal was beyond the servant woman's comprehension. It was actually almost humorous, the moat of motley pillows surrounding the base of Kuzco's throne. But those who would be sleeping with their arms beneath their heads would most likely not find the humor in the situation.  
Ysalane settled into her spot on the throne amidst the cushions she had been given. To her surprise, having never sat there before, she found it incredibly comfortable. No wonder her brother disliked it when other people sat there. She smiled slightly, almost wishing he was there. But if Kuzco was there, there was no way he'd let Ysalane stay on the throne.  
With a contented sigh, she settled into her spot, everything conforming to her shape and warming up nicely with her body heat. It was, perhaps, one of the most comfortable positions she'd ever been able to find since being with child and it suited her to stay in that position until the baby came. And maybe even afterwards. She could decidedly get used to sitting on the throne.  
Unfortunately, she was there all by herself. It just didn't seem as fun when there was no one to talk to, no one to gloat about being Empress to, no one to boss around, even. What fun was it, then, to have a position of such power? Ysalane was almost disappointed.  
Up until that moment, she was thrilled with finally getting to be the one calling the shots. But then her responsibilities dawned on her. She had no advisor of her own. And as she glanced around the throne room, it occurred to her that she had no servants, either. Or friends. Kelsey was escorted back to the now useless Aqllawasi because that's where she belonged. And that girl, Nhutalu, had gone missing when Yzma did.  
Ysalane tapped her fingers on the edge of the padded armrest. Each tap echoed tauntingly despite the tapestries hanging all throughout the throne room, and despite the fact that fingertips on pillows made virtually no sound. That was the wonder of boredom-inducing silence. It had that inexplicable capability of amplifying the slightest whisper to a near-deafening scream or making the tiniest taps echo like a stampede of llamas across a stone floor.  
Or, if not a whole stampede, then four lone llama hoof-steps, the nails clacking along the smooth tile of the palace floor.  
Slowly, reluctantly, Ysalane pushed herself out of her spot, turning to see the pillow that had been propped in the small of her back flop down on top of the cushion that had been beneath her thighs. She waddled down to the floor of the throne room and glanced around. The footsteps were growing nearer, louder.  
Ysalane ventured outside the throne room and sure enough, wandering around aimlessly a few yards away, was a llama so fluffy and white that it could have been a cotton ball with four legs and a head. She was pretty but obviously fatigued and was possibly in poor health. Ysalane frowned, watching her for a moment. There was something so familiar about her.  
"You -- llama!" Ysalane snapped at it.  
At first, the llama didn't respond. So Ysalane walked over to it, putting her hand atop its head, between its ears. "I was addressing you."  
Finally, the llama glanced up, and their gazes met. Ysalane gasped, her eyes bulging as she thought she recognized the eyes that looked back at her from beneath the thick black llama eyelashes.  
"You!" Hissed Ysalane.  
  
Chicha walked into the main part of the hut, where the fireplace was. It had also been where Nhutalu had preferred to sleep. Chicha expected to see her form on the floor there, curled up in front of the dying fire. Instead, there was nothing.  
Pacha joined his wife mere moments later. "Why are you standing here like that? Looking so lost."  
"Did Talu not come back last night?"  
He smiled slightly. "Apparently not."  
  
The next hill over, things were peaceful as they usually were as the sun rose.  
Nhutalu stirred slightly in her spot, pulling her cover close to her chin. For a moment, it seemed to get colder and she shivered. Then it got considerably warmer, particularly around the girl's cheeks. She opened her eyes, focusing on a fire that had been stoked back to life.  
"Good morning," Kuzco said, gently brushing the hair from Nhutalu's cheek. "Did you sleep well?"  
Nhutalu yawned and stretched, sitting up. "Yes . . . Did you?"  
Kuzco smiled. "Of course I did. Now that you're here."  
She glanced at him, slowly smiling after a moment, before laying back down. "I feel like I could sleep for weeks . . ." Yawning again, she closed her eyes.  
"No, no, don't go back to sleep!" He cried, grabbing her by the arms and attempting to lift her from her spot. "I had big plans for us today!"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I had plans for today! You can't go back to sleep!"  
"What kind of plans? And how could you already -- I've only been back . . . Well, less than a day?"  
Kuzco grinned. "Right before I fell asleep, last night? I had this . . . This incredible idea! But you have to wake up now or else it won't work!"  
"But Kuzco, I'm tired!"  
"Trust me . . . It'll be worth it!"  
Nhutalu half-sighed, half-yawned, but finally consented. "So what's your plan?"  
"It's a surprise! You'll see. Now, c'mon!"  
As Kuzco led Nhutalu from his modest summer get-away in the warm light of the dawn, Pacha and Chicha stepped out of their hut.  
From across the way, both Chicha and Pacha saw the two silhouettes leaving down the winding path.  
"She never came back." Chicha said in disbelief.  
Pacha smiled, pulling Chicha back inside. "I'm sure Manco will be hungry."  
"But --"  
"Chicha, Sweetie -- Kuz -- er, Cusi -- is happy --"  
"I'll bet he was last night."  
"Chicha!" Pacha glanced at her in shock.  
She frowned. "I wanted to talk to her, at least."  
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll bring her back tonight to share her company with us, okay?"  
With a sigh, Chicha went back into the hut, muttering to herself, "Something's not right . . ."  
  
By the stifling humidity, it was obvious that day was a miserably hot one; especially in the height of the Peruvian summertime. But in the cloud forest, there was enough greenery overhead to cut out the sun's direct rays and to keep the temperatures comfortable -- if only barely.  
Nhutalu hung off Kuzco's arm, sweat beading up on her forehead. She had been constantly out of breath since shortly after lunch; when the climb had steepened considerably. "I'm really tired . . . Can we stop now?"  
Kuzco, however, seemed only to get more and more anxious as they neared their destination. "No, no -- we'll be there soon! Trust me, it's good -- it's really worth it!"  
"I don't think I can make it . . ."  
Laughing, Kuzco commented, "You're acting like you aged years while you were at the palace!"  
Nhutalu glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "I feel like I aged years while at the palace. Decades . . ."  
Kuzco's laughs tapered off, then. "You can rest soon. It's getting late so we should be there shortly."  
"'There' where?"  
Suddenly, getting so excited that he was more hyper than Pacha's children, Kuzco told her, "You'll see, you'll see!"  
  
Slowly, Kronk remembered why he didn't want to take the Junior Chipmunks out on their excursion. Normally they listened to him and obeyed him as if he was the emperor. But if they got distracted by something, nothing would pull them from their spots. He'd been trying to get them to continue on the hike for hours, already, but the children had been caught up in a group of extremely talkative rodents.  
Chaca was the first to settle into a conversation, followed soon by Tipo and the rest of the kids. So they wound up, scattered out on the trail.  
Kronk groaned, sitting down on a nearby rock. He looked around, carefully noting where each child was before falling into a train of thought so involved that it was as if he fell into a trance.  
Yzma had done something to Nhutalu; that had been painfully obvious. But try as he might, he could not figure out what was wrong. All he knew was that the answer would be found in the palace.  
He wanted to wait until after he returned the Junior Chipmunks to their village prior to venturing to the palace but found out quickly that he had little choice in the matter.  
If what he'd hear was true, Nhutalu turned Yzma into a llama. The longer Yzma remained a llama, the angrier she would be when she was returned to her human state. It was a risk, especially with so many children in tow. But he had to.  
Deep down inside, he wanted to prove to Yzma that he was capable of doing things right. And what better way to do that than by rescuing her? But it just didn't make sense. She would be bent on revenge; getting back at him for squashing her against the face of the palace and causing her to lose her chance with the human potion and then making her stay as a feline for a year.  
On second thought, perhaps rescuing Yzma was foolish.  
. . . But no one deserved that. He couldn't rightfully leave her like that again. Besides, she hadn't always been like that. It was when Kuzco had her fired that she went nuts. So she was probably okay again.  
She's probably be thankful that he was there to save her.  
Even if she wasn't exactly thankful, she wouldn't even consider doing anything with all the children nearby.  
Kronk shook his head slowly, trying to reassure himself.  
No, no, she wouldn't dare do anything to them. No one was that heartless.  
  
The end was in sight. Kuzco and Nhutalu had been walking all day long and she felt more fatigued than she ever had been in her entire life. She was weak and famished and although he obviously felt bad for her -- and maybe even somewhat guilty -- he continued to prod her.  
In all the time she'd known him, she'd never seen him act like this.  
"C'mon, we're almost there. See that crop of bushes up ahead?"  
Nhutalu sighed. "You mean the dead-end up ahead? And by-the-way, you've been saying we're almost there all day."  
Kuzco looked quite crest-fallen. "No, really, this is it." He approached the foliage at the end of the path and gently stuck both hands into it, pulling two branches away from each other. "Come look."  
Slowly, she approached, peering through the part in the plants. It revealed a ledge, probably not more than two or three yards in length and a yard or two in width. "What's this?"  
"Close your eyes for a second and you'll see."  
That made no sense to her but Nhutalu followed through with his request, anyway.  
A moment later, she felt his hand on her elbow as it gently prodded her forward. "Can I open my eyes?" She asked.  
"Hang on."  
Foliage brushed against her, catching her poncho and scraping her arms and legs slightly.  
"Okay, okay, look up."  
Nhutalu turned her head upward and opened her eyes. She slowly let go of Kuzco's hand and stopped walking, her jaw hanging open in awe. "Oh . . . Wow . . ."  
The sun had both risen and set as they had gone on their journey and what greeted Nhutalu as she looked toward the sky was a crystal clear view of the stars twinkling happily in the warm summer breeze.  
"It's beautiful," she gasped, blinking back tears.  
"I -- um . . . I had to return the favor of you showing me my palace in the sunset," he replied softly. "That really meant a lot to me . . ."  
"Huh?"  
"Remember -- from Pacha's backyard that one night?"  
"Oh . . . oh yeah . . ."  
"Thank you." Kuzco pulled his hand out from behind his back, presenting her with a bundle of flowers he'd discreetly picked along the way. Nhutalu had been so busy complaining about being tired that she never noticed what he'd been doing.  
She fell speechless as she took the flowers from him, only vaguely noticing that he had given her a soft kiss on the cheek.  
It had been many, many years since she had received flowers from a man.  



	9. 

Chapter Eight  
  
"Over and over I fall  
When I hear you call  
Without you in my life, baby  
I just wouldn't be living at all . . ."  
  
~By Richard Marx, "This I Promise You"  
  
Nhutalu was starting to forget things. Like the names of Chicha's children. The color of her own poncho. The way back to Pacha's village.  
Why and how things had ended up the way they had. All she could remember was the pink liquid. The pink liquid and Yzma's eyes. Those horrible, terrible eyes. There had been blood, but she couldn't figure out whose blood it had been. She had had a headache for quite some time so it just as well could have been hers.  
With a sigh -- or the closest thing she could do to a sigh -- she set her head down on the cold stone floor of the palace. Ysalane had mistakenly locked her in the lab; Nhutalu remembered that night clearly.  
It was strange to have tear ducts but no ability to cry. To say that it was frustrating would be a definite understatement. In fact, it was almost painful. It felt worse than that congested feeling a head cold brings. The pain in her forehead just above her nose had dulled, or perhaps she'd just gotten use to it.  
There was still a strange shadow of disbelief which had shrouded her since Yzma left the palace.   
Nhutalu knew what she had become, even without having seen her reflection. She could look down and see her own wool-covered legs and the tiny black hooves that stuck out from under them.  
And the fact that she could scratch her back with her mouth and see her tail was a rather big, hard to ignore, indication of what the potion had done to her.  
But last time, when Yzma had poisoned her drink, Nhutalu had been able to speak. She had still been more girl than llama.  
This time, however, the poison was Yzma's 'new-and-improved' formula. And this time, Nhutalu was more llama. A lot more llama. In fact, as the days dragged on, Nhutalu lost chunks of her human memories. That, there, was by far the most frightening thing she'd ever experienced.  
When she found Ysalane, there had been that tiny glimmer of hope that she would be rescued. Unfortunately, Ysalane was certain it was Yzma and locked her in the lab.  
This would seem the foolish thing to do; placing Yzma in her lab with all her potions -- including the one that would turn her human again. However, Ysalane saw the lack of dexterity the fluffy white llama had; just as little as the real llamas had. So there was no risk of her curing herself.  
Thus, the llama was banished and locked in there, the lab now acting as her prison -- a prison with no access to any other part of the palace, like, for instance, the kitchen.  
Nhutalu was starving to death.  
  
Kronk found out the hard way that children dislike following directions. He tried at every chance he got to steer them in the way of the palace but they resisted fervently, as children tend to do.  
He didn't want to tell them why he had to go to the palace. From every parent in the village, they all knew who Yzma was, what she had done to the Emperor and what she was capable of doing. As a cat, they teased her. As a human, they feared her. And they had been taught to stay away from her. It was because of this that Kronk knew they wouldn't understand why he was going to rescue her.  
The truth was, even he questioned why he was doing that.  
But the kids and he, clad in camouflage and with paint smeared on their faces, scaled the steps up to the palace. He had finally caved in and explained to them what was going on and -- much to his surprise and delight -- they were eager to help him. Little kids were like that, though -- willing to help adults they admired. And Kronk was, perhaps, the most popular 'adult' in the Empire. It didn't hurt that he spoke to animals, of course. Or that he shared this rare talent with the children.  
The group of Junior Chipmunks followed Kronk on his heels through a side-door into the palace, not one of them protesting or showing any fear.  
  
Nhutalu closed her eyes, expelling a long breath. She figured she'd go to sleep and have a nice, quiet death that way. When she thought about it, it no longer seemed frightening or unfair. She'd had a nice life. Fell in love with a nice village boy . . . She'd even gotten to see the palace. That wasn't all she ever wanted to do with herself, but looking back on it, her life suddenly looked like a very full one. At least she'd gotten to spend a little more time with her cousins before dying.  
There was a sound outside the lab -- like footsteps. Many footsteps. The fluffy llama's ears perked up slightly, despite the fact that Nhutalu was nearly catatonic. Someone was speaking -- his voice was painfully familiar but her patchy memories offered her no help in identifying it.  
Suddenly, the door blew open under a great amount of force, a large man barreling in with his muscular shoulder leading the way, and a group of children running in from behind him.  
He slowed, then stopped, carefully glancing around Yzma's 'secret lab.' It took a moment before he spotted the wretched looking creature, laying on the cold floor and half- asleep.  
Kronk nodded. If ever he saw a llama which looked like Yzma, that was it. He swallowed the lump in his throat with great difficulty, approaching the beast cautiously. By the looks of things, Yzma would probably be very angry when he gave her the human potion.  
The llama drew in a weak, raspy breath.  
"She's not feeling well," Chaca said sadly, walking up to the llama. She sat down in front of it, patting it gently on the head between its eyes.  
With the rest of her energy, Nhutalu glanced up at the young girl that she just barely recognized and attempted to communicate the one thing she wanted to tell them all the most. I'm not Yzma!  
Chaca gasped, her eyes growing wide. Somehow, she'd understood. Worse than that was finding out who the llama really was. "Kronk, hurry! Hurry, hurry, hurry!!"  
Kronk came back, popping the cork of the last bottle of human potion. "Stand back, Chaca. This could be dangerous."  
Chaca stepped away, but only just enough to allow Kronk the room to stoop down and put the mouth of the vial to the llama's lips.  
Both Kronk and llama became enveloped in a thick cloud of sparkly pink smoke, the children all gasping around them.  
Kronk stepped out of the smoke apprehensively -- suddenly scared that he misread Yzma's labeling system again.  
Nhutalu wouldn't have cared what the potion did to her; the sweet liquid was the first thing she'd had to eat or drink in many days and it coated her parched throat. She reveled in the feel of it as it slipped down her tongue and into the length of her esophagus. Then Nhutalu momentarily lost consciousness.  
The smoke cleared, only to reveal a heap of limbs and long, shiny black hair; a young girl who was decidedly underdressed.  
"Nhutalu?!" Kronk cried, completely flabbergasted. "But . . . I thought you were with Kuzco!"  
Nhutalu slowly attempted to sit up, her arms too weak without proper nutrition to support her. "Kuzco?" She asked, her voice nothing more than a raspy whisper.  
"I mean . . . Uh . . ." Suddenly he became very tongue-tied. Not only did he practically blow the Emperor's secret, but he stood before an entirely naked young woman -- a group of innocent children staring at her from behind him. "ImeanCusi," he told her, quickly turning to usher the children out of the room.  
"What are you doing?" She asked.  
"You're, um -- well, you're not very . . . Well, you know --"  
Nhutalu glanced down, suddenly realizing her nudeness. She covered herself up as best she could, blushing furiously. "My . . . uh, my clothes are over there in the corner."  
Kronk happily turned away from her, retrieving the pile of white cloth and, his eyes open mere slits, he inched his way back to her, offering her the outfit.  
She stiffly dressed herself, having to teach herself all over again how her arms and legs were supposed to move. Once covered up semi-properly, Nhutalu had gained enough confidence to convince herself that she could stand. Unfortunately, it wasn't that her legs would not cooperate -- they were simply too weak without nourishment to support her. "Kronk!" She yelped.  
Without a moment of hesitation, he reached out to keep her from collapsing.  
"Kronk!" Nhutalu gasped, tears filling her eyes. "You saved me!"  
"Aw . . . It's nothin' . . ." He told her modestly.  
With another gasp, she realized, "And I remember you!"  
Kronk's smile slowly faded. "But -- if you're here . . . Then who's back at the village with Cusi?"  
The village. Pacha's village, with his and Chicha's hut at the very top, where they were raising their three children, Tipo, Manco and Chaca.  
"I remember now!" Nhutalu cried, attempting to dance for joy. She quickly recalled, with her rubber legs, that she couldn't. "But -- I remember! Yzma pulled me under the vial -- it landed on my head and I had such a huge headache . . . She scared me away from herself and went to work with her potions . . . I saw a puff of red smoke and . . . And then . . . She was gone. She --" Nhutalu gasped once more, looking up at Kronk. "She stole my identity?"  
  
Kuzco glanced at Nhutalu as they snuggled by the fire. She had been back for a week and they'd spent every day with each other since she seemed to dislike the idea of going to see either Chicha or Pacha. Kuzco was too thrilled at having her all to himself to even see the strangeness in the situation. But it had occurred to him that something was wrong. For a girl so straight-forward that she kissed him before he ever would have kissed her -- even if he'd really wanted to -- she sure didn't seem eager to kiss him once she came back. In fact, she hadn't kissed him at all.  
"Talu?" He asked, trying to get her attention the most gentle way he could. She always seemed lost in thought those days.  
Slowly she glanced at him, offering a shy smile. "What are you thinking about right now, Kuzco?"  
"Just how much I miss kissing you."  
"Kuzco --"  
Kuzco leaned over, kissing her softly on the lips.  
  
Kronk charged through the jungle, Nhutalu in his arms and the whole band of Junior Chipmunks in the lead.  
"Now I know Yzma's gonna kill me," he panted, speaking mostly to himself as he had been since leaving the palace with Nhutalu and the children in tow.  
"Why?" Nhutalu asked, her head resting semi-peacefully against Kronk's shoulder.  
"Whatever her reasons were, I don't think making you human again was supposed to be part of the plan."  
"I think I'm hungry again."  
Kronk called ahead to the group of children. "We're stopping!"  
Many of the kids seemed more than happy to rest at that moment. They'd been traveling almost continuously, except for time allotted for sleeping, for two days by then. Although they were large bundles of unending energy just because of the simple fact that they were children, the group of Junior Chipmunks was exhausted.  
"Chaca, would you please bring the basket?" Asked Kronk, setting Nhutalu on the ground and seating himself beside her. As Chaca approached, Kronk glanced at Nhutalu. "How are you feeling?"  
"A little stronger," Nhutalu replied honestly. "I've never starved half-to-death before, so I don't know if this recovery of mine is good or not. I suppose . . . being hypoglycemic didn't help it any."  
"Hypoglycemic?" Kronk repeated questioningly.  
"Yeah. You know, low blood sugar? It's a curse . . ."  
"Hey -- Emperor Kuzco's got that same ailment!"  
"Really? How weird . . . I know Cusi has it, too."  
Kronk looked away from Nhutalu. He didn't like lying -- especially not to Nhutalu. But it was not his right to tell her; it was, after all, the Emperor's decision.  
"Are you okay?" Nhutalu watched him carefully for a few moments. "I hope I'm not too heavy for you . . ."  
"Ohno, you're not heavy! Not at all!" Kronk smiled weakly.  
"Not that I thought you weren't strong enough to carry me . . ." She blushed. "I . . . just feel bad, about . . . you know . . ."  
"Don't worry about it." Kronk was blushing slightly, as well.  
Chaca walked over to Kronk and Nhutalu, offering them the basket with the food in it. "Here."  
"Thank you, Chaca," Nhutalu and Kronk said in unison. They looked at each other and laughed before he searched through the basket. "Lots of nuts and figs for you here."  
Figs. Nhutalu's face flushed, recalling feeding her villager boyfriend some figs. That was one of many memories she'd lost -- and was just beginning to regain. Now deep in thought, she took a handful of nuts and ate them, one by one. It was the only way she could eat -- tiny bits at a time -- without becoming nauseous. After a few moments, Nhutalu glanced up at Kronk, feeling the weight of his stare. Quietly she confided in him, "I thought I was going to die."  
Kronk looked away, not knowing how to reply. He had not intended on rescuing her, but was glad he did. She was much nicer than Yzma. No wonder Kuzco was smitten with her. Kronk frowned. "I can't imagine what Yzma wanted with Kuz-Cusi."  
Nhutalu glanced at him, furrowing her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"  
"Well . . . She went into town looking just like you," he pointed out.  
Suddenly, all Nhutalu could see was images of Yzma in disguise, smooching on her guy. Her eyes filled with angry, frustrated tears. "No . . . No! Kronk, you've gotta help me! Please!"  
Slowly, Kronk smiled at her. That was a first. No one ever wanted his help -- not like that! "Finish eating," he suggested gently, "and we'll be on our way again."  
Nhutalu's eyes narrowed and she hissed, "Yzma's goin' down!"  
  
The girl was quite unhappy. Things were not going according to plan. Kuzco, that little brat . . . Why did he have to kiss so nicely?! Intentionally or not, he was going to hurt her. All over again, and in ways she'd never have even imagined he could. All the jokes about her age, her appearance, the younger men -- those were nothing. Not compared to the things that raced through her mind when he'd kissed her.  
This just wasn't right! He wasn't supposed to be so passionate -- about anything! He wasn't supposed to have those emotions, and technically, being the Sun, he wasn't even supposed to have the ability to love. The choosing the bride thing was only a technicality of having the throne; a way to guarantee an heir. But if his kiss was any indication of how he felt about her -- or the girl he thought she was -- his feelings for her had far surpassed love.  
What irked her most -- by far -- was that after a few moments, she began to reciprocate. She tried to convince herself that it was merely reflex and that semi-reassuring thought was enough to keep her stomach from churning.  
No, he had no motive against her, even if it seemed like it. Her disguise was good enough and he was enamored with her enough that her plan worked well.  
In fact, to her credit, her plan worked better than she had anticipated. Unfortunately, she was not prepared for the backlash.  
When Yzma thought about impersonating Nhutalu, she never considered what she would be required to do. If she'd known that she would have to kiss Kuzco -- she might have thought twice about pretending to be Nhutalu. No Empire was worth that much!  
The good thing at that point was that he was preoccupied enough not to notice that she was also lost deep in thought -- looking for the easiest way of backing out of the situation without spoiling her wicked plan.  
She was desperate to think of anything that would take her mind off the kiss. But the fact was, she found herself wondering -- multiple times -- when he would try to kiss her again.  
And this wasn't because she didn't want him to.  
So confused and disgusted with herself, she almost began hoping someone or something would blow her disguise.  
But that nagging feeling never went away; the notion that there was nothing wrong with wanting to be loved.  
Just not by HIM!  
"Talu? You okay? You look kind of pale." Kuzco told her, gently squeezing her hand.  
"Yeahyeah, I'm fine," she snapped. Suddenly, it didn't seem as important to her to sound like Nhutalu anymore. The fun and games were over and she was beginning to frighten herself.  
Kuzco frowned, glancing down at his feet. "Sorry . . ."  
"Uh -- maybe I should just go back to visit Chica --"  
"Chicha?" Now he furrowed his eyebrows.  
She coughed, quickly covering her honest mistake. Peasant names always sounded so similar, she couldn't figure out who was who and was shocked that Kuzco had been able to distinguish between them. "I got something caught in my throat. Yeah, Chicha. I'm sure she's wondering what happened to me."  
"Okay . . ."  
Uncertain that she remembered the way to Chicha's, she asked, "Would you come with me?"  
Slowly, Kuzco smiled again. He knew Pacha would only nag him about going back to the palace. But he didn't mind, as long as Nhutalu would be there with him to distract him from Pacha's complaints. "You want to go over now?"  
She was having those thoughts again, the ones about his soft lips. "Yes. Yes, now!" Any distraction -- outside of Kuzco -- proved to be a good one.  
  
Chicha sighed, doing her best to smile at Manco. He, like most other normal babies, was entertained with such things. She was trying to ignore the nagging feeling that throughout her depression, she'd been neglecting her youngest child. Manco, however, didn't seem to notice. He cooed and giggled and blew raspberries, thrilled at his mother's full and complete attention.  
But Pacha could tell that Chicha was pretty much looking right through their baby son. He knew she'd been unhappy with Chaca and Tipo leaving but didn't realize it would end up hitting her so hard.  
"Chicha? Honey?"  
Slowly, Chicha glanced up at Pacha. "Yeah?"  
"Are you okay? You haven't been yourself for . . . a long time."  
"I'm fine," she replied, sighing. "I just . . . I just thought the kids would be back by now."  
"They're okay," said Pacha, attempting to conceal his own concern. "I doubt Kronk would lead them into a dangerous situation. Besides, Yzma's good and gone now, so we don't have to worry about her, now, do we?"  
"I know, I know . . . You're right, Pacha. I'm trying not to worry . . . But . . . It's not just that . . ."  
Pacha kneeled beside his wife, taking Manco from her. "Then what's wrong? You really have me concerned!"  
"I think there's something wrong with Talu," Chicha said slowly. "It . . . doesn't seem right. I mean . . . Did we do anything to offend her so much that she didn't even want to come back here to see us?" Tears welled up in her eyes. "We gave her a place to stay and everything and this is the thanks we get?"  
"Sweetie, I think maybe you're just overreacting . . ."  
"Overreacting? Overreacting?"  
"No . . . No, now Chicha . . ."  
"The least she could do was come by to say hi to me! You at least got to see her!"  
Pacha sighed. This had to be because the children were still away. "Maybe, you know, Nhutalu's just so preoccupied with Kuzco that she didn't realize . . ." It was only a matter of time before Kronk would return with Tipo and Chaca, and Chicha would be in her right mind again. How much longer would he have to stall?  
"Well, I don't care what the excuse is -- she's . . . she's just being rude!"  
Well, there was no way he'd be able to convince her otherwise. He didn't want to agree, however, and this left him in a very touchy spot. "I'm sorry . . ." Yeah, that would do it.  
Chicha lowered her head in silence. She knew that tactic all too well; Pacha disagreed with her and didn't want to actually say so. She hated when he did that to her; he never seemed to understand that it did more harm than good. As she opened her mouth to respond, there came a timid tapping on their front door.  
Pacha went to answer it, Chicha's head snapping upward with a hopeful glint in her eyes.  
Kuzco greeted Pacha with a small smile. "Uh . . . Hey, Pacha. Someone wants to see you." He turned around to Nhutalu, pulling her forward and escorting her into Pacha's hut.  
Nhutalu glanced around herself cautiously, looking at her surroundings. Pacha's hut looked vastly different from when she had seen it last. But it was not long before Chicha stood and pulled her into a rib-cage snapping hug.  
Pacha chuckled, patting Nhutalu on the shoulder affectionately. "Chicha missed you. A lot."  
Still hugging the girl, Chicha told her, "Pacha missed you, too. Don't let him tell you differently."  
"I missed you more than they did! Way more!" Kuzco added.  
Nhutalu carefully glanced from face to face. They genuinely cared about her. They'd missed her, loved her. Her smile slowly fell. No, they cared about who they thought she was.  
For that moment, that fleeting second, she recalled what it had felt like to be wanted. Kronk had tried to get her to feel that way but she'd never allowed him the privilege. A wall, he'd called it.  
Well no matter. It was all a massive part of her plan, anyway. One that would not fail. There was no Kronk to get in her way this time and Kuzco . . . Well, he was the one she had to worry about and he was exactly where she wanted him. This time, it would be perfect.  
She'd already prepared a spot for the young Emperor in the palace tomb. This had been, of course, before that night; when she'd turned the real peasant girl into a llama and assumed the girl's identity by tweaking the youth potion she'd previously attempted to perfect.  
It had taken that long to get accustomed to the look and feel of a human body not originally hers. It actually seemed worse than being turned into a different animal entirely -- it should have felt fine but it didn't. Regardless, everything was fine now -- it still didn't feel right but at least after the walk through the jungle, she was no longer tripping over her feet on legs much shorter and shapelier than she was used to. The hips, though -- they were something she would never feel good in. How could the girl maneuver herself with hips like those? At least Kuzco seemed to like them.  
But they weren't hers, and that was the problem. She kept having to remind herself that it was just a little while longer. She could coax Kuzco back to the palace, kill both his sister and him while still under the guise of Nhutalu. Then she would cure herself of that poison, and cure the real Nhutalu -- only to let the palace officials haul the real Nhutalu off and kill her for the murders of the remnants of the royal family.  
Running through the plan once more, she was almost surprised with herself at her own deviousness.  
But what to do with Pacha and his family? They'd done nothing to wrong her -- not this time. However, she'd been wanting to take revenge on Pacha for helping Kuzco evade her evil plot last time. No, it would be best to eliminate him, as well. She couldn't take any chances, now.  
This time, she would rule the Empire.  
"Talu?" Kuzco asked, rubbing her back gently. "You okay?"  
And that was another thing -- it still wasn't right to answer to that name; especially not with the inflection Kuzco used. It seemed almost gross, somehow.  
"Yeah," she replied, barely glancing at Kuzco. Perhaps she could just ask him to go with her to the palace now. She could always come back for Pacha and family once Kuzco was dead and long gone. "Um . . . You know what I was thinking? Maybe you should go back to the palace . . . Y'know, now that Yzma's gone?"  
"Not without you," Kuzco told her stubbornly. "You think that after all that, that I'm just going to let you walk out of my life again? Or that I'd willingly walk out of yours?"  
"Oh no," she reassured him. "I wouldn't think of letting you go to the palace without me. Not now that I know." Keeping a straight face proved difficult.  
Chicha and Pacha gasped in unison. "You didn't!"  
Kuzco nodded at them, quite satisfied. "Yup. I did."  
"He did," the girl agreed.  
"Don't worry about it. You heard what Talu said. Yzma's gone!"  
"Yup," she agreed once more.  
Now both Pacha and Chicha frowned. Pacha hated to admit it, but Chicha was right. Or so he thought; at least he saw what his wife had been complaining about. Nhutalu was acting quite peculiarly. Couldn't Kuzco see it? Rather, did he care to see it? As Pacha watched Kuzco staring google-eyed at Nhutalu, the answer was, unfortunately, a painfully clear, resounding no.  
The problem was -- and probably what also made things worse than they already were -- that no one could pinpoint what, exactly, was wrong. Chicha glanced at Pacha and pulled him close.  
"Now do you think I was imagining things?" She hissed into his ear.  
"No . . ." He muttered back at her. "Nhutalu's not very . . . Nhutalu-y . . ."  
"It had to be something that happened at the palace."  
Pacha and Chicha glanced at each other.  
"If . . . uh . . . If you don't mind, we were going back to the palace. You know, so that . . . Kuzco can . . . reclaim his throne." Nhutalu chuckled in a way that Chicha found disarming and that made Pacha cringe.  
"But --" Chicha began.  
"Come on," Nhutalu told Kuzco, taking his hand almost frantically. "Mustn't keep your subjects waiting!"  
With one lingering look at her, Kuzco consented. "Okay, you're right. See ya, Pacha!"  
"But Emperor Kuzco --" Chicha whispered, reaching out to him.  
Pacha held her back gently, telling her, "It's his decision." It's his mistake.  
They both fell silent, watching Kuzco lead his girl to the front door. As he went to open it, it blew open from a great force on the other side.  
Slowly, Kuzco glanced up to see Kronk, who, at the moment, towered over him.  
"Kronk?" Kuzco said, frowning.  
Wordlessly, Kronk stepped inside. From behind him, Chaca and Tipo raced into the hut, wrapping their arms around Pacha's legs. And behind them, a girl stood -- still almost teetering -- looking at Kuzco in silence.  
He looked back at her, his eyes bugging out of their sockets and his mouth hanging open.  
She approached him, shakily, reaching out to touch his hand. "Cusi . . ."  
Kuzco stepped back away from her, almost frightened. He remained speechless, up until he managed to mutter, "This can't be . . ."  
It seemed almost like a dream come true: two Nhutalus! One, clad in her typical red dress and the poncho that Chicha had made for her. The other Nhutalu looked like Kuzco would never dare to imagine her: She was decked out in the royal white and silver, a floor length skirt slit up passed her thighs on both sides of her. She wore long, billowy translucent sleeves and her blouse clung to her except at the loose collar which practically hung off her shoulders. The girl was obviously malnourished and looked severely beaten up -- bags beneath her eyes and bruises all over her flushed cheeks.  
Despite looking so horrible, to Kuzco, Nhutalu had never looked sexier.  
"I don't understand," Kuzco stuttered, looking between Nhutalu and Nhutalu.  
The Nhutalu in the white slave outfit stepped toward Kuzco, grabbing his hands desperately. "Cusi! It's me!"  
"Butbutbut . . ." Kuzco was growing more confused by the second.  
"Tell him," Kronk urged the Nhutalu in white, the one he had escorted back to Pacha's hut from the palace.  
"Cusi, it's me, Nhutalu! You have to believe me!"  
"But if you're Nhutalu," asked Chicha slowly, "then who's that?"  
"That's Yzma!" Chaca and Tipo cried in unison, cowering behind their mother's legs and pointing to the Nhutalu dressed in the standard -- and far more modest -- Nhutalu outfit.  
Yzma-Nhutalu, clad in red, looked at the children in shock. "I am not! Kuzco, don't listen to them!"  
"You don't even know you're talking to!" Nhutalu in white spat at her doppleganger. "His name is Cusi!"  
Now, the idea of having two Nhutalus was, by all means, an enthralling one. Except, of course, for that tiny detail that one of the girls was not actually Nhutalu. Worse than that was the rumor of who one of them really was. "Not to sound cliché or anything, but which of you is My real Nhutalu?" Kuzco asked.  
Suddenly, the girl in the slave outfit snapped, lunging for her duplicate in red. "This one's Yzma!" She shrieked, trying to disrobe her counterpart frantically, as if that would reveal her real identity. "She poisoned me, turned me into a llama, stole my body and stole my Cusi!" To her, Nhutalu screeched, "Give me my clothing back, you wretch!!"  
"Get off of me!" Yzma-Nhutalu ordered, trying with no success to beat the other girl back.  
"Tell them the truth, tell them the truth!" The girl in white continued to scream as Pacha finally came over and restrained her. "Liar! Liar! You beast, you fiend! You ghoul!"  
For a moment, the girl in red seemed to smile, delighting in the name-calling. "Now, now -- you can't really be Nhutalu -- she would never be so rude."  
Nhutalu in the slave outfit screamed incoherently at first. Finally, words formed. "Get out of my body, you witch!"  
"Maybe there's a way you can test them," Chicha tried suggesting to Kuzco gently, surprised at herself with how calmly she was acting.  
"I don't know what I'd do," he replied honestly, looking to Pacha for assistance.  
Pacha shook his head, every bit as much at a loss as everyone else was.  
Suddenly, Kronk gasped, recalling something that Nhutalu had told him about on the way back to Pacha's village. "Your necklace!"  
Slave girl Nhutalu gasped, groping her neck. Hanging from a gold chain was the one thing Yzma had not stripped her of. "Yzma!" She snapped.  
As a reflex, Yzma-Nhutalu glanced at her duplicate in white at the sound of her real name.  
The slave girl held a wooden heart charm in her palm. "Go on," she goaded the fake Nhutalu. "Tell Cusi about this!"  
"Why should I?" She replied haughtily, forgetting that her once spoiled Emperor had been humbled by hanging around peasants. "It's just a piece of wood."  
Kuzco glanced away from the girl in red, clenching his eyes shut tightly.  
"No it's not," the real Nhutalu replied. Her voice wavered dangerously as she explained, "It's the most valuable thing in the world -- a symbolic representation of Cusi's heart. Which he carved for me with his own two hands."  
Slowly, Kuzco looked up at the scantily clad girl in white. Then he glanced over at the girl in red. At first, his face drained of all its color, but quickly regained it as he turned beet red. It had dawned on him; Maybe she didn't look like herself, but he'd kissed Yzma. Overwhelmed with anger, he hissed, "Kill her."  
Pacha and Chicha gasped audibly, but Pacha was the only one brave enough to stutter, "Kuz- Cusi? What?"  
"Kill her!" Kuzco roared, pointing at the fake Nhutalu.  
She chuckled nervously, sounding more like her real self suddenly as she asked, "A-are you sure you want to do that? I-isn't that . . . a -- a bit drastic?"  
In unison, Pacha and Kuzco told her, "Consider it just that your body is becoming part of an out placement program."  
Yzma-Nhutalu glanced at Kronk desperately. "Help?"  
Kronk slowly shook his head. "No," he told her, though extremely uncertain. "Not after what you did to Nhutalu."  
Pacha lunged for her but she scurried out of the way. Before anyone could catch her, she ran, screaming, from Pacha's hut.  
"Get her!" Kuzco yelled.  
Pacha almost smiled at him. "It would be my pleasure. Kronk?"  
Kronk smiled, first at Kuzco, then at Pacha. "Let's go."  
"Be careful!" Chicha called after the two men as they raced out of the hut in hot pursuit of Yzma. She sighed, obviously worried -- at least, about her husband. Then she glanced between Kuzco and the real Nhutalu. "C'mon Tipo, Chaca. Let's go outside." She quickly led the kids out back, looking over her shoulder just before she stepped out of the hut after them.  
Kuzco and Nhutalu stood a few feet away from each other in uncomfortable silence for a few moments.  
"Is it really you, Nhutalu?" Kuzco finally managed to whisper.  
Nhutalu nodded, clasping her hands in front of herself self-consciously. "I should never have left," she told him quietly. "Yzma sent her guards after me and as I was leaving the village, they captured me and took me to the palace. I was . . . so scared . . ." She sighed, lowering her head. "I missed you so much . . . I thought about you all the time, wishing that maybe you would show up at the palace." Chuckling almost bitterly, she added, "I know . . . You have no reason to ever go to the palace."  
Then the stinging realization hit Kuzco; he'd told Yzma who he really was and Nhutalu still didn't know. There was a lot the girl didn't know. "Talu -- I -- I don't know what to say . . ." Now faced with the perfect opportunity to tell her everything he'd been hiding from her, he was speechless when he could not decide what to say first.  
"Don't say anything, then. Just hold me." Nhutalu approached him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder.  
For a moment, Kuzco didn't know what to do with himself. He still couldn't dismiss the near-crippling disgust he had in having kissed Yzma. Nor was he sure he entirely trusted this girl. She could be lying, too, after all. Slowly, Kuzco reached over to take hold of the wooden heart he'd carved for her.  
She noticed the movement and gingerly placed her hand atop his, pressing their hands and the wooden heart against her collarbone. "I never let Yzma take this away from me. I'd sooner have died than allow that to happen." She almost had died . . .  
Slowly, Kuzco gathered the nerve to return her hug. Thoughts flew around in his mind despite the tranquil moment; he couldn't understand why he hadn't realized it sooner. The girl who he'd mistaken for Nhutalu had been cold as ice, and calculating. He wondered if anyone else had noticed it; if they had, why hadn't they told him?  
None of this changed the fact that he'd kissed Yzma.  
Nhutalu gasped slightly under the pressure of the almost spasm-like tightening of his grip. "Cusi? Are you okay?"  
"I kissed her." As if thinking about it wasn't bad enough, actually stating it brought a lump to his throat.  
Nhutalu frowned. She didn't like hearing that he'd kissed anyone else -- even if this 'anyone else' was her. Sort of. "You didn't know," she tried to reassure him. "Don't beat yourself up about it."  
The look on his face spoke clearly when he refused to say anything further. He would never be able to forgive himself.  
Nhutalu bit her lip, deep in thought for a few moments. She wasn't sure how he'd respond if he knew what she was thinking but she decided to take her chances, regardless, and acted on her idea.  
While Kuzco was preoccupied, Nhutalu leaned over and kissed him gently on the mouth. At first he resisted, but he gave into it soon after. They kissed each other and hugged fiercely, as it finally struck them just how long they'd been parted.  
"Please don't leave me like that again," he begged her. "I . . . wasn't myself once you left." This not regarding the fact that he'd not been himself since they first met, anyway.  
Nhutalu smiled slightly. "I can't imagine I would have any reason to leave you again. Cusi, I was foolish to leave in the first place. I don't understand it, the more I think about it . . . Why would I go back to see my parents, anyway?"  
Suddenly, it became clear what he should talk to her first about. "I know this may seem . . . strange . . . to you, but . . . Did you feel like your parents were honest to you?"  
Nhutalu frowned. "What do you mean?"  
"When you went missing, Pacha and I . . . kindasortawenttoseeyourparentstofindyou."  
She gaped at him, raising an eyebrow. After a lengthy silence, Nhutalu asked, "So?"  
"I . . . Found out that . . . You used to live in the palace. When you were real little."  
After another few moments of silence, Nhutalu chuckled. "Don't be silly! Where'd you hear that?"  
Kuzco frowned. "We need to have a long talk."  
Not quite liking the sound of that, Nhutalu opted to change the subject quickly. "I -- uh -- I don't know about you, but I want to go and kill Yzma."  
Still frowning, Kuzco replied, "I agree with you -- I want her dead worse than you do!"  
Taking his hand, Nhutalu said, "Let's go see if we can catch up to Kronk and Pacha."  
"Okay." Smirking, Kuzco added, "And we can talk along the way."  



	10. 

Chapter Nine  
  
"You're a god   
And I am not,   
And I just thought   
That you would know . . .  
You're a god   
And I am not,   
And I just thought   
I'd let you go . . ."  
  
~By Vertical Horizon, "You're a God "  
  
Kuzco's hand was clammy. This fact had not surprised Nhutalu in the least. Not since it was high noon, hot and humid out, and they had been holding hands since they began their journey that day at sunrise; more specifically, at that ethereal time of day when the sky showed golden yellow at the Eastern horizon but before the sun could actually be seen above the rocky terrain.  
Nhutalu liked that time of day; that was when the world was at its most peaceful. The day had not yet warmed and dew still dangled from most flower petals and leaves. That time of day was something she knew was the blessing of the Emperor's land by the Sun, his father. Of course, since the Emperor's father had quite mistakenly died some years ago, this left the Emperor, himself, to be the Sun. Unfortunately, this was not the first time she had found flaws in her beliefs.  
"Cusi?" Nhutalu asked.  
Kuzco was clearly preoccupied for the time being judging by how delayed his response was. "Huh?"  
"Do you think it's possible to be both a deity and mortal at the same time?"  
"What?" Kuzco stopped dead in his tracks, obviously startled at the question.  
"Do you think it's possible to be both a god and mortal at the same time?" After a moment, she added, "Especially if he was not borne a god?"  
The way she had phrased the question, the answer seemed simple enough. "Of course not." But then he gave the inquiry suitable thought and realized -- inadvertently -- that he'd just contradicted his whole entire existence.  
She seemed satisfied with his response, though, and despite how much he wanted to correct himself, Kuzco remained silent. After all that, Nhutalu still didn't know he was the Emperor and at the rate things were going, he'd never get the chance to tell her. But on the strangely reassuring side, he knew that she didn't like him just because of his powers. She liked him because he was him -- which was far more than he'd ever have gotten had he actually chosen one of the Virgins of the Sun to be his bride. Even Ysalane, his very own sister, kissed up to him solely because he was the Emperor. Kuzco was beginning to think that that behavior had to stop.  
"Cusi?" Nhutalu said softly. "You haven't spoken a word for a while. Is something the matter?"  
Nothing more than usual, of course. "No," replied Kuzco, as lightheartedly as he could muster. "I'm fine. Just thinking . . ."  
"About?" She prompted him.  
He shook his head. "Oh, it's nothing." After a pause, "Nothing important, anyway."  
"Doesn't sound unimportant."  
"Honestly, it's nothing you should worry yourself about."  
It seemed obvious to her that he was reaching out to her, seeking her solace. Further, it seemed as if he was trivializing whatever it was that bothered him. In either case, this made her more curious. She wanted to ask him to tell her but she didn't want to come across as if she was forcing him to tell her; that would merely lead to his resentment of her. As it was, she felt like he harbored a little bit of ill will toward her because of what had happened with Yzma. Not like any of that had been her fault.  
Except that she had been the one who helped Yzma out of her cat body. It dawned on Nhutalu then that she had inevitably gotten what she deserved; she had given back to Yzma the ability to stab people in the back -- and was promptly back-stabbed, as well. Suddenly, and only for a fleeting moment -- what had happened almost seemed warranted. But that stream of thought was crushed quickly. It didn't matter that what Yzma had done was expected -- only in a twisted sense of logic, of course -- taking Nhutalu's identity and fooling Kuzco only to better herself -- was wrong.  
Nhutalu decided she had been punished for the actions that she'd once been convinced were heroic. She just didn't want to consider the simple fact that she'd been used. And used well.  
Kuzco's hand somehow suddenly felt sweatier, if that was even at all possible. Although Nhutalu released her grip on it, affording him the opportunity to wipe it dry on his alpaca-wool poncho, he did nothing of the sort -- merely hanging on to her hand more and more fiercely as if to say, "Don't even think of letting go." The strangely sticky wetness of a hand warmed in sweat was beginning to disturb her greatly and since Kuzco was intent on not remedying the situation, Nhutalu had to distract herself from it. Her left hand went to fiddling with the necklace, her thumb gently caressing the smoothed grain of the wooden heart charm. This soothed her distaste, actually much more than she expected. It evoked her to smile for the first time in a long while. Kuzco took notice.  
"What?"  
Nhutalu blinked, genuinely confused. "What what?"  
"You're smiling."  
"Oh."  
Nhutalu took a few more steps before stopping and turning toward him. Silently, she hugged him.  
Kuzco hugged her back, asking, "What's this for?"  
Because I love you seemed the easiest answer, if not the one that could potentially get her into the most trouble. "Because I needed it," she then explained. "And it looked like you did, too. Besides . . ." she hesitated, only hoping that her inflection would come across as soft as she wished it to. "I wanted to."  
Kuzco smiled. "I don't deserve you."  
"That's not true," she chided him in response. "Of course you deserve me!"  
"Talu . . ."  
"Yeah?"  
"You really did live in the palace when you were little. I swear."  
She shook her head, almost apt to chuckle.  
  
"I heard the Emperor's got himself a new girlfriend." One of the Virgins of the Sun glanced up from her fingernails. "She left the palace with Kronk not too long ago."  
"I heard the Emperor's new girlfriend is nothing more than a peasant," another girl piped up from across the room. Disdain hung thick in her voice long after the echo of her words died out.  
"Doesn't the Emperor already have a bride?" The youngest Virgin asked, her question going unanswered. This treatment was nothing new, however; most of the older girls disliked associating with her for no clear reason. Kelsey sighed, resuming the chore of de-tangling her hair; as she had been the brunt of the most recent prank played in the Emperor's Aqllawasi.  
"How is a peasant girl better than we are?" Someone else asked. "Certainly she's no prettier!" This particular young woman had been the one Kuzco was consistently cruel to. She bore no question as to why Yzma had wanted him dead for all that time. The Virgin, however, never spoke of her knowledge about such things. Kuzco didn't like her very well as it was and she wasn't keen on finding out how quickly he'd turn around and have her imprisoned -- or worse.  
"I don't know," the eldest Virgin spoke up. She'd been the very first girl who Kuzco rejected in his decision to choose himself a bride. "Ysalane's going to be cross if she hears about this."  
"Empress Ysalane," Kelsey corrected them. "She's the Empress now and don't you forget it."  
Most of the girls just rolled their eyes but someone from a corner of the room snapped, "Shut your mouth, child!"  
"Ysalane's no better than the rest of us," yet another bitter voice added.  
"You're just jealous 'cuz she likes me best," Kelsey retorted.  
A few girls made snide comments, none of them clear enough for her to understand.  
"She's going to bear the heir to the throne," the youngest girl reminded them, knowing full well that a good chastising was in the near future for her. "A perfect little boy."  
"It's going to be a girl," the eldest of the group replied. "I've seen babies born, I know how it works. Ysalane's carrying the baby too high for it to be a boy. And besides, that child is no more suited for that throne than we are."  
Kelsey knew she was not being irrational. She had spoken enough to Ysalane about how the rules of the Royal lineage worked -- of course, these talks had been before Ysalane had assumed the throne and Kelsey taken back to the home of the Virgins of the Sun. Nonetheless, she knew these girls would never believe her. This brought back her characteristic silent demeanor.  
The rest of the girls continued their gossiping, making ridiculous speculations and speaking about Kelsey as if she wasn't there. It took only a few moments longer before Kelsey stood up and stalked out of the Aqllawasi.  
  
Yzma was quite tired of running. As skinny as it was, the body she was trapped in was not nearly as streamlined as her real one. And although Kronk and Pacha had, at one point, actually caught up with her, she had managed to elude them and had been a half day ahead of them since. It was amazing how far a little bit of incentive went.  
Yzma had mixed feelings about her situation. True, she had gotten her wish that someone or something would foul up her scheme. But now that it had happened, she was having great difficulty figuring out a way that she could still win. About then, Yzma was starting to second-guess her original plan. Maybe it wasn't perfect after all. This brought a lump to her throat -- Yzma was imperfect? That simply couldn't be! Regardless, she had not considered the consequences of assuming another person's identity before actually doing so -- and that had been a considerable oversight. On the bright side, Yzma looked forward to trading bodies back to her own.  
For a moment, the ancient woman stopped, having the scare of her lengthy life. If Nhutalu had been returned to her human form, she would be down one vial of antidote. That would be one vial she would be unable to use to cure herself with.  
On the home stretch, Yzma became fueled with a peculiar, if not all too understandable urgency that sent her scaling the stairs of the palace at a sprint, bounding two or three steps at a time. That was one thing she would decidedly miss; the bursts of energy that a younger body gave her. Perhaps now would be an ideal time to perfect and use the real youth serum.  
At one of the doors to the palace, Yzma met up with a young girl, obviously one of the Virgins of the Sun. The girl was distraught, tears running down her cheeks, the delicate skin around her eyes bright red and bloated. Without so much of a word, Yzma shoved her out of the way with such force that the girl toppled over, only a mere inch from tumbling down an endless stone staircase.  
"Hey!" She snapped, quickly picking herself up and brushing her thick black bangs from out of her eyes. "What was that for?"  
"You were in my way!" Yzma snapped, carrying on as if nothing had happened. She continued to charge down one of the corridors of the palace without looking back.  
Kelsey recognized that particular hall as the one that led down to Yzma's secret lab. Despite the fact that she initially went up to the palace to visit Ysalane, Kelsey decided that this new development was something to investigate. She quickly pursued the peasant girl in red whose voice just didn't quite seem to suit her body. But Kelsey kept her distance, making sure to hide behind one of the many pillars any time Yzma would stop and glance behind herself. This was certainly a peculiar action and Kelsey thought that was painfully obvious -- thus why she chose to follow instead of going to see Ysalane. But Ysalane should probably know about that. Kelsey decided, however, that Ysalane would have to wait . . . at least until she could find out what was going on so that she could give the Empress accurate information.  
Yzma ran straight for the owl-shaped cabinet, practically ripping its wings off when she threw open the doors. She let out a quite audible sigh of relief that Kelsey heard clearly from her spot, peering into the room from the doorway.  
"Oh, thank Inti," Yzma breathed, pulling a small vial of pink liquid from one of the shelves. She kissed it, her lips lingering on the glass, reveling in some pleasure that Kelsey, as merely a bystander, could not understand. "The last one," Yzma told herself, pulling the cork from the vial. She struggled with it, muttering something about short fingernails and stubby fingers. Kelsey frowned.  
Yzma licked her lips in heightened anticipation, tilting her head back. And after one more moment, she tipped the vial and allowed the potion to run down her throat. Some of it stained her bottom lip temporarily before she had the chance to lick it up.  
Nothing happened at first.  
Kelsey watched, extremely curious, as the peasant girl's expression changed. At first it was smug, then surprised. Quickly, her eyes widened and she looked down at herself, frantically groping at her waist, hips and thighs.  
"Why didn't it work?" Yzma gasped, tears filling her eyes. "What went wrong?"  
Kelsey frowned, feeling sympathy for her although she couldn't dismiss the feeling like she shouldn't.  
Suddenly, the peasant girl lurched forward, dropping the empty container on the ground and clutching her wrist, glancing at it in utter shock.  
Gasping, Kelsey stared on, trying desperately to pull her stare away from the proceedings. The peasant girl transformed right before her eyes, aging, doubling over in pain -- or so it looked.  
Pink, sparkly mist cleared away from the form and slowly, it erected itself. Kelsey gasped, slapping her hand over her mouth; almost with such force that she was afraid that the witch had heard it.  
Nearly each separate vertebrae was visible through the translucent, thin skin of her upper back. It seemed as if her bones had continued growing much when they should not have, and thus they stretched her skin over most of her decaying body, making it appear like an inadequate form of protection for everything it covered. Where this had not happened, excess skin seemed abundant in wrinkle upon wrinkle upon wrinkle; almost as if in her youth she'd been obese, and then as she grew up, she lost all of her unwanted weight . . . And then some. Atop her head, which looked more skull than head, remained a few thin, straggly, dark hairs.  
Kelsey thought this woman looked absolutely appalling. Definitely not an improvement from her previous state and she found herself wondering why anyone would want to be so ugly -- as it had appeared she had.  
Kelsey remained stunned for a few moments, unable to move from her spot as she watched.  
Yzma stretched, bones and cartilage all over her body snapping, cracking and creaking back into place. Taking Nhutalu's likeness had been far more stressful on her body than she wished it would have been. And the transformation back had left her weak; a very unwelcome reminder of her age and rather poor state of health. She was so much a wreck that she didn't notice the presence who had been spying on her for quite some time now.  
But slowly, it dawned on Kelsey. She realized, despite the sketchy descriptions she had of Emperor Kuzco's ex-advisor, that the disheveled creature before her must have been Yzma. Cautiously, she began stepping away from the doorway, keeping pressed up against the wall so that Yzma would not see her. When she turned a corner and that door was no longer in sight, Kelsey took off at a sprint, heading straight for the throne room.  
  
Pacha was mildly distressed. He found himself liking Kronk more and more as time went on; this was something he wasn't particularly pleased with. Not that there was anything wrong with Kronk. Except, perhaps, for his almost delightful naiveté. This was the man Pacha and his wife had trusted their young children with? Strangely, that didn't seem right but with as much as he tried, Pacha couldn't very well describe what was wrong with it. Because there wasn't anything wrong with it . . . which merely made Pacha feel worse for disliking Kronk to begin with. Tracking Yzma-Nhutalu with him had given Pacha the opportunity to get to know Kronk far better than he'd previously ever wanted to. And Kronk had proven himself vastly more intelligent than Pacha would have guessed. For whatever his reasons, Kronk seemed content to have himself appear to be rather dimwitted. On numerous occasions already, Pacha paused mid-thought to ask him why this was but could never gather the courage to. Perhaps he actually failed to realize this was how he came across to others. Maybe it was just Pacha's perception. Maybe it was all part of some great, elaborate scheme.  
What made Pacha curiouser yet about Kronk was what he had to have seen in Yzma. Pacha had many questions about their relationship, as he was sure everyone else did, as well. Despite this, he did not dare ask. There was the slight -- if not terribly misguided hope that Kronk would volunteer the information. No, the likelihood of that was nil. This was reinforced as Pacha glanced at Kronk. Kronk's near-permanent happy-go-lucky smile spoke loudly enough that he actually didn't realize what others wondered about him. Nor did he care -- in that remote case that he did actually notice. . . . If he did, he was one heck of an actor. A little while later, Pacha decided that he didn't want to know what the deal was with Kronk and Yzma's relationship. Surely, finding out the truth would only end up disgusting him.  
Many silent moments passed that Pacha felt like would be ideal to bring any of this up. He wondered if Kronk wondered similar things about him. Nonetheless, silenced reigned -- unless one or the other of them had a snide comment or joke to make about Yzma. But for all that could have been said, their pursuit of Yzma remained vastly silent. Not to say it was uncomfortable silence; both men seemed happy not to speak unless there was something important to be said.   
Except for directional information, there was little verbal contact.  
At last, however, Pacha caved in and asked, "What are you going to do with her once you catch her?"  
Kronk blinked once, and again, his eyes particularly round and with an especially blank expression on his face. "What do you mean?" He sincerely didn't have any malcontent toward her.  
Figures. Pacha bit into his lip fiercely. "Nevermind." Just then, the way he'd spoken, he began to question if Kuzco's not-so-nice personality had somehow started to influence his own actions. . . . But Nhutalu had changed him, reformed the Young Emperor even more than Pacha had been able to. Lately, there were many things Pacha had begun to question. At that particular moment, his thoughts wandered to his wife and three children.  
If Chicha's fears were right and something were to go wrong, what would they do without him? Could he really trust Kuzco to provide for his family through his 'powers' as the Emperor?   
How could he even think that? The stupid kid, who delighted in being the most powerful being ever, was refusing to sit on his own stupid throne! Then, that thought crossed his mind again -- with Kuzco having been gone so long, what did the palace look like now? Pacha was almost too frightened to find out.  
Kronk had noticed that Pacha was lost deep in thought. Pacha didn't think he was sharp enough to notice, but he was. It was obvious, too -- where Yzma-Nhutalu had clearly headed to her 'secret lab,' Pacha was busy heading for the Aqllawasi -- a place Kronk had visited no more than once in his life. Not that he thought that Pacha did this purposefully. It merely illustrated the fact that Pacha was so preoccupied that he wasn't thinking straight.  
Kronk was angry and confused. Yzma had both used and hurt Nhutalu -- a girl who had rescued Yzma and had proven herself one of the most kind-hearted people Kronk had ever met. He wanted nothing more than to make Yzma sorry for doing such things, and yet . . . And yet the words caught in his throat when he went to correct the direction Pacha was wandering in. But, he decided after much indecision, he was doing this for his Emperor, Kuzco. After all, Kuzco had always been nice enough to him . . . Even despite all that 'Yzma-wanting-to-kill-him' business. Sure, he was really nice, actually -- when Kronk forced himself to ignore how condescending the boy always was. No, no, no. None of that felt right.  
Kronk was doing it for the girl; for Nhutalu.  
"Yzma went that way," Kronk said, pointing up at the palace for Pacha to see. He was still extremely uncertain about this and that was quite apparent in the way his voice wavered when he spoke.  
Pacha wordlessly corrected his path.  
Both men knew already, though neither of them stated it; this wouldn't be getting easier.  
  
Ysalane was napping. Her head tipped to the right and rested heavily against five different, fully stuffed pillows. She wore her brother's crown even as she slept but it had slipped down slightly on her forehead. There had been one point where she'd actually noticed that it had fallen from its proper spot but had done nothing to fix it. Fatigue had plagued her now for a couple of weeks and she at last gave into it -- deciding to sleep first and play Empress later.  
The throne room was empty, much the way Ysalane preferred it. Few people bothered her and she decided there really was nothing to ruling the Empire. Simply put, there was nothing going on worthy of her attention and it sure seemed as if Kuzco had it easy when he occupied the throne.  
No wonder he got so bent out of shape when Yzma pretended that she had all the power. What a cushy job!  
Ysalane stirred slightly, attempting to re-situate herself without really waking up. After so many hours of sitting in that position, it was beginning to bother her. But then again, in the later months of her pregnancy, everything bothered her. Her mood swings were those not to be reckoned with and the servants who brought her food all had blisters on their feet from so much walking; from the kitchen to the throne room and back at the pregnant woman's whim. Her cravings changed drastically at the drop of a hat and they were almost as annoying as her mood swings.  
But the silence that Ysalane had gotten so used to was shattered as the door to the throne room blew open.  
"Empress Ysalane!" Kelsey cried, sweat pouring down her face and her chest heaving with each breath she took. "Empress Ysalane!"  
Ysalane groggily lifted her head at the sound of her name. After a moment, she addressed the intruder. "Kelsey? What are you doing here?"  
"Yzma's back! Yzma's back!"  
Ysalane frowned. "Now that just can't be! She's starved to death by now!"  
Kelsey met up with Ysalane at the throne and she boldly took the Empress's hands. "It's her! She was a real pretty peasant girl in red and then she drank something and became old and hideously ugly! You've gotta believe me!"  
With a gasp, Ysalane asked -- as if Kelsey somehow knew the answer --, "She was a peasant girl? Not a llama?"  
"A llama?" Kelsey wrinkled her nose. "No . . ."  
Ysalane struggled to stand from the throne and when Kelsey didn't come to her aid quickly enough, Ysalane snapped at her. "Well, help me up! Yzma's gonna come back to hurt me and the baby! I have to get out of here!"  
Kelsey quickly helped the Empress, apologizing profusely. "But where will you go?"  
"The Aqllawasi. I know Yzma -- she'll never go there!"  
  
The main city of the Empire rose ahead, looming in the tantalizing near-distance. It looked more majestic than ever from that spot. Perhaps it was not so much the sight of his palace that brought tears to Kuzco's eyes but the ever-present train of thought that this whole nightmare with Yzma could be over -- permanently . . . By the end of that day.  
Nhutalu had been silent for quite a while already. She was determined to take her revenge on Yzma but was obviously frightened. Kuzco tried reassuring her every way he knew how but nothing seemed to work.  
They stopped at that spot on the path where Kuzco's palace just appeared up ahead in the midst of the great city.  
Nhutalu was lost in thought at the moment but Kuzco tugged on her hands persistently. "Come on, Sweetie. If we're going to catch Yzma, we'd better get going . . . Now . . ."  
Nhutalu blinked, snapping out of her daze. "Did you just call me 'Sweetie?'"  
Kuzco shrugged slightly, a small smile playing on his lips. "Uh, yeah . . . Heh . . . I guess I did."  
"I liked it. I like it."  
"I'm glad. 'Cuz, you know, if you didn't . . ."  
"Why wouldn't I?"  
"I don't know --"  
"You worry too much about me . . . There isn't anything you could do that would stop me from lov-- liking you."  
Kuzco glanced at Nhutalu, barely able to contain his surprise. Did he hear what he thought he'd just heard?  
Did she almost say what she thought she had? Nhutalu glanced off to one side of the path quickly, blushing furiously. Here was his chance to acknowledge it, to reply in some form proper.  
Instead, he stared at her, dumbfounded, a look on his face as though someone had clobbered him over the head with a hammer. He smiled, though, through his daze. Darn near any verbal response short of one made out of detestation would have sufficed at the moment but Kuzco was lost in his speechlessness.  
Nhutalu would never be able to understand why this was. She bit her lip, almost in shame as if she had been rejected -- though she hadn't -- and turned away from him. The boy was hopeless, she decided.  
Her eyes darted all around, trying to keep from settling in one spot when tears could pool up along her lower lashes. That was all she needed. As she glanced from plant to plant, sky to dirt path and the bugs that crawled along it, living their petty lives happily with no idea of what they were missing, Nhutalu caught a strange -- if not tiny -- gap in the foliage to her left.  
She gasped, quickly and quite eagerly putting behind her the most recent events with her boyfriend as she grabbed for his nearest wrist and lunged into the bushes with him.  
"What are we doing?" Kuzco gasped, barely able to stay on his feet.  
"You wanna catch up with Yzma, don't you?" She shot back.  
"How is this gonna get us to her?" He demanded to know, sounding more like the Emperor than he'd preferred. In a heartbeat, he answered his own question; suddenly remembering Yzma's 'secret' backdoor to her 'secret lab.' "Oh," he said feebly. "Nevermind."  
Reaching one of many doors, Nhutalu realized that this path to Yzma's lab -- though faster -- was the path that unfortunately included an encounter with the amphibious creature and its fondness for the flesh and fur of other living beings. Kuzco realized this as well at roughly the same time.  
They turned to each other and questioned in unison, "Why does she even have this entryway?"  
But it would be Nhutalu's determination that would see them through. Revenge was strange that way. It had also provided the fuel for Pacha and Kronk's chase.  
When Kuzco and Nhutalu burst into Yzma's lab, the giant creature at their heels, they were shocked to find that Yzma, herself, was no where in sight. Mere moments later, the door across the lab swung open with Kronk and Pacha on the other side.  
"How'd you get here so fast?" Pacha called over to them.  
Nhutalu and Kuzco exchanged glances, then shrugged.  
"Did you find Yzma yet?" Kuzco asked eagerly.  
Pacha and Kronk shook their heads in response.  
"Then where would she be?" Asked Nhutalu.  
Kuzco looked at Kronk who answered easily, "The throne, I bet!"  
Kuzco and Nhutalu traversed the lab, taking stock of things as they did so. The place was a horrible mess; broken glass and ceramics everywhere. Dried pools of pink spots dyed the stone floor like a pox and Kuzco noticed that Nhutalu avoided stepping on them deliberately. Her eyes did not stray from the floor until Kuzco and she had cleared the lab and had met up with Kronk and Pacha at the other door.  
"Lead the way," Pacha told Kuzco, almost bowing. He caught himself just in time and straightened, casting a wary -- almost pitying glance -- at Nhutalu. She seemed oblivious to this entire interlude.  
Nor did she seem at all surprised that the 'peasant boy' knew his way around the intricate and oft confusing floor plan of the palace. In fact, Nhutalu never gave thought to the strangeness of the situation. Instead, she took an active role in leading Kuzco to the throne room, pulling him by his hand when he wasn't walking nearly fast enough. But even she was uncertain exactly what she would do with Yzma when they found her.  
The throne room loomed straight ahead.  
Inside it, all was silent. Atop the extraordinarily high throne sat Yzma, looking quite pensive. Slowly, she glanced over at the four people who'd just entered the room. Yzma exuded calmness as she silently regarded them, attempting to swallow her emotions, whatever they were. She was a good actress and Nhutalu knew that. Unfortunately, so did Kuzco. But she caught the uneasy twitching of Yzma's right eye. This confirmed her inkling; when Nhutalu -- as a llama -- destroyed most all of the potions in the lab and with most all of the palace guards transformed to guinea pigs, Yzma was left with nothing and no one to protect her. And Yzma was quite unhappy about this.  
The old hag stood from her spot and descended the steps leading away from the throne in a more graceful way than Kuzco thought she even knew how. "So you've found me," Yzma stated. "Congratulations. Now what?"  
Nhutalu screamed at that point, lunging for Yzma -- reaching for her hair, attempting to scratch the old woman's eyes and translucent skin. Yzma was barely able to defend herself but managed to free herself from the attack for only long enough to buy some time to flee. However, between Nhutalu, Kronk, Pacha and Kuzco, Yzma didn't get far before she was cornered again.  
This pursuit took the five of them all over the palace and had nearly come to an end in the dining room.  
They circled the obscenely long, rectangular dining room table numerous times before Nhutalu stopped abruptly, reaching out for the centerpiece. She unsheathed the cleverly hidden knife, wielding it at Yzma.  
Kuzco gasped when he saw it, recoiling in terror for reasons Nhutalu would never be able to comprehend. But Kronk and Pacha flinched as well, all too familiar with the sacred knife and its 'duties,' as described by Kuzco on numerous occasions.  
It was Yzma who managed to ask Nhutalu what everyone had been wondering about, in the back of their heads, stuffed behind their sympathy for Kuzco. "How did you know about that?!"  
Nhutalu glanced down at the knife in hand, whose handle was decorated with the likeness of one of their many gods. She shrugged slightly. "It was an accident one of those times you had me set this table." Without further hesitation or explanation, she lunged for Yzma.  
Kuzco watched the scene unfold, too shocked to do much of anything in the situation. He was flabbergasted to see Nhutalu acting in such a violent way and almost forgot that Yzma deserved what she was receiving; if not worse.  
There was one point where Yzma nearly caught the knife in her eye. It had been so close that Yzma actually stopped and touched her eyelid -- just making sure that there was still something beneath it. Regardless of the fact that she still had depth perception, she had to double-check. While doing so, she made certain that there had been no blood shed; and there hadn't.  
From the generally useless circling of the dining room table, Yzma fled to the safety of her lab. Kronk, Pacha, Kuzco and Nhutalu followed without hesitation. But Kronk began to lag behind, losing hope that the pursuit would ever end and they would be chasing Yzma forever. Both Pacha and Kuzco refused to give up so easily and Nhutalu had a motive strong enough to keep her fueled for an infinite amount of time.  
Yzma frantically searched through her owl-shaped cabinet. All that remained were the stupid 'new-and-improved' llama extract potions. She had enough ingredients to make more; that was without doubt. But she did not have the time she needed to properly mix other potions. Unless . . . Yzma shook her head quickly. No. Not again, not this time. What she had would just have to suffice and that was that.  
Moments later, Kronk and Pacha broke down the door to Yzma's lab. Yzma jumped, startled. Suddenly Yzma felt as if now this whole thing would never end. Strangely enough, judging by the looks on their faces, Kuzco and his friends must have felt the same way.  
They were all tired, both physically and emotionally and wanted nothing more than to never see each other again. At least, Kuzco, Kronk, Pacha and Nhutalu didn't wish to set eyes upon Yzma. She probably similarly; perhaps even stronger.  
Kuzco and Nhutalu pursued Yzma until they were chasing her in circles around one of the laboratory tables, a chase all too similar to that of the one around the dining room table. Pacha remarked to Kronk about how comic the whole thing had become and if not for the fact that someone was probably going to die, he would have been laughing at it.  
Then someone -- Pacha couldn't even tell who it had been -- started throwing things. Whatever was nearest went first; vases, statues, potted plants. Shards of ceramics flew everywhere, everyone too involved in the fight to be surprised that no one in the fight was getting cut up at all. Amazingly little blood had been shed. For this reason, Pacha knew something had to happen.  
In fact, at about the same time Pacha had that realization, something did happen.  
Yzma broke the cycle of endlessly being chased around the table by dashing over to her owl-shaped cabinet before either Kuzco or Nhutalu could catch her. She reached in, grabbing a vial at random and pitching it at Nhutalu and Kuzco as they approached. They jumped out of its way quickly and the vial shattered rather violently against the stone floor, its contents splashing all over and creating a puddle which would come to be yet another stain on the stone.  
Nhutalu looked up from the puddle with a gasp, her eyes suddenly flashing dangerously. "You wouldn't dare do that again!" She hissed.  
"Wouldn't I?" Yzma challenged, reaching into the cabinet immediately.  
As she watched, Nhutalu began to wonder exactly which potions Yzma had left. She was aware that she'd used up all of the guinea pig extract on the palace guards and that Kronk had used up the last human potion he'd used to save her with. What was left?  
Yzma threw the next vial of potion in one swift motion, straight at Nhutalu's abdomen. Reeling backward to absorb the shock, she managed to catch it without breaking it. Promptly, almost in the same action of catching the thing, she hurled the vial right back at Yzma.  
Unfortunately, Yzma proved to be as good a catcher as Nhutalu. Once more, the same vial went flying. But this time, the throw happened too quickly for Nhutalu's reflexes to catch the bottle without breaking it. However, Kuzco's reflexes were more than fast enough. A hand darted in front of Nhutalu's chest, where this throw had been aimed.  
He caught the vial a bit too forcefully and the glass broke in his hand. He was cut quite badly and the pink fluid splashed all over him. For a moment, he looked at his hand in bewilderment -- in a fashion that reminded Nhutalu all too much of when he'd cut his hand while carving for her the wooden heart she now wore around her neck.  
This response, of course, was before the potion soaked in and the transformation took place. Nhutalu watched in horror.  
Something ripped loudly, which she deduced was his clothing. Kuzco's clothing could no longer contain his shape as a non-human creature. Nonetheless, she couldn't tear her eyes away from him, not until the characteristic pink smoke concealed everything for a few moments.  
When the air cleared, Nhutalu looked down only to find a llama, sprawled out on the floor. His left, front hoof was heavily scratched up from where he'd caught the vial with what was once his hand. Slowly, he lifted his head and glanced up at Nhutalu.  
Seeing her boyfriend as a llama, of all things, came to Nhutalu as a shock. But it was when his eyes met with hers that she lost control. She barreled headfirst into Yzma, no longer thinking or speaking rationally. Perhaps if she had, she would have thought up a way to force Yzma into making the antidote for Kuzco before rendering the old hag incapable of doing so.  
Yzma and Nhutalu fought for quite a while before the potions became a weapon once more. Another vial went back and forth between the two numerous times while Kronk and Pacha looked on helplessly. If either of them were to step in to stop the fight or to help it, they ran the risk of being pelted with a vial, as well. But finally, Kuzco came to his senses and attempted to order the fight to a stop -- solely for Nhutalu's safety, of course. All that escaped his mouth was a typical llama vocalization.  
It was this noise that sent Nhutalu over the edge. When Yzma turned, Nhutalu grabbed the nearest thing -- the very last bottle of previously mixed potion and smashed it with all her strength into the back of Yzma's head.  
Yzma collapsed under the force of the blow and was almost instantly engulfed in her very own cloud of smoke. Once the smoke drifted away, it revealed a thin, straggly, pathetic looking llama. She looked malnourished and quite sickly; nothing like she had looked when she'd been a cat. This appearance seemed to reflect what Yzma really did look like, both inside and out.  
Yzma, now a llama, was barely able to lift her head from the floor with her long, incredibly weak neck. She couldn't speak, nor could she lift herself from her spot.  
Pacha's jaw fell open as he realized Nhutalu had finally done it; she'd saved the Empire from Yzma. But she hadn't been able to save Kuzco.  
When her shock wore off, Nhutalu turned back to Kuzco, who was still laying on the floor. Tears sprung to her eyes and she rushed over to him, dropping to her knees and pressing his head to her chest as if he had died.  
She knelt there and cried, Kronk and Pacha both too speechless at the moment to suggest anything or to say anything to comfort her.  
After a truly miserable length of time, Pacha finally stooped down beside Nhutalu. "I'm . . . sorry . . . Maybe Yzma has a spare bottle of antidote stashed somewhere?" Although he didn't think it possible, Nhutalu began to cry harder yet.  
"Look at the cabinet!" She sobbed. "There's nothing!"  
"But what about all that stuff over there?" Pacha pointed to a table toward the far corner of the lab. Its surface was full of containers with all sorts of fluids in them, most of them reddish in color.  
"Those are just the ingredients! Without the recipe, it's all useless!" Suddenly, her head snapped up toward Pacha's and her eyes darted toward the table. "Wait a minute! Maybe . . ."  
Nhutalu was over at the table in an instant, her hands flying through the containers as if she actually knew what she was doing. Pacha and Kronk watched her in silent awe, but Kuzco had finally resigned to his fate and was forcing himself to fall asleep on the cold stone floor of Yzma's 'secret lab.' Nhutalu's soft singing -- whatever it was that she was singing, it being nothing that Kuzco had ever heard before-- proved to be a quite effective lullaby. Just as he nodded off, Nhutalu approached, a vial of dark pink liquid in her shaking hands.  
Pacha stopped her a few feet away from Kuzco, his eyes wide. "Is that right?" He whispered. He desperately hoped the Emperor couldn't understand what was going on.  
"I don't know," Nhutalu replied, whatever remaining of her confidence now vanishing. She had made the potion according to the song she'd made up to keep herself from dying of boredom when Yzma was instructing her on how to make the potion that cured the witch of her cat-hood.  
"You're gonna give it to him?" Pacha asked incredulously.  
Nhutalu glanced back at Kronk, who, at the moment, seemed slightly more preoccupied in trying to figure out what had happened to Yzma. She looked to him for support but received nothing.  
"Yes," she told Pacha, trying to convince herself that it was the right thing to do. What was the worst that could happen? Surely even Kuzco preferred death to being a llama; especially when Nhutalu knew from experience that he would be aware of losing his human memories over the course of the next few days. Should there ever come a time that someone else could cure Kuzco of his llamaness, it might be too late; returning to his human form would run the risk of driving him insane. It was now or never.  
On the other hand, if the potion didn't work entirely, there was still the possibility that at least Kuzco would get his ability to speak back.  
But could Nhutalu love a llama?  
"Wake up, Cusi," she told him, kneeling beside to him. There was no reason to question herself anymore. It just wasn't helping anything.  
Kuzco awakened, his dark eyes focusing on Nhutalu from beneath thick llama lashes.  
"I have something for you." Nhutalu offered him the vial of potion.  
He looked at it for a moment, then glanced back at her. Although his expression did not -- could not -- change, Nhutalu was certain she saw the llama wrinkle his nose at the potion.  
"Drink it," she urged him as sweetly as she could.  
Kuzco shook his head stubbornly, turning his face away from the vial like a small child. But was that of his free will or was it instinctual? Had he already learned to fear the vials?  
"Please drink it," begged Nhutalu. "For me."  
Kuzco continued to look away. Nhutalu glanced helplessly back at Pacha, who simply shrugged at her as if he was out of ideas.  
"Don't you care that he gets better?" Nhutalu snapped.  
Pacha figured that this response had to be because she didn't know he was the Emperor. She just couldn't be so careless with his health!  
"I do, Nhutalu . . . It's just . . ." He sighed, finally realizing that perhaps keeping Kuzco's identity a secret was foolish, after all. "You don't understand."  
Nhutalu frowned, biting her lip to keep from telling Pacha what she really wanted to say. She knew it wouldn't help anything. Besides, it very possibly could have just been her angst from the fight that provoked her to think the things that rushed through her mind. "Fine," she stated instead, barely keeping her temper. "I'm sorry, Cusi. This is for your own good." Firmly grabbing Kuzco by the neck, she gently wedged a couple fingers between his upper and lower teeth, and forced him to drink the potion she'd mixed.  
When she felt the llama teeth begin to change their shape, she removed her hand and stumbled backwards, clenching her eyes shut. "Oh please work . . ."  
A long moment of silence ensued, followed by a weak gasp. Nhutalu looked up quickly, catching a glimpse of a bare shoulder, and then part of a bare chest. As more smoke cleared, finally someone broke the silence, and it was Kuzco: "No lookie . . ."  
  
Kuzco hugged Nhutalu fiercely, now wearing Pacha's poncho. "I'm sorry I had no faith in you," he whispered. After a hesitation, he added, "I was scared it wouldn't work."  
Nhutalu smiled slightly, not lifting her head from his shoulder. "It's okay . . . I . . . I still can't believe what happened."  
"Hey . . . I'm proud of you," Kuzco told her. "No one here could have handled it better than you did."  
She blushed, pulling away from him. "I don't know what came over me . . . I just . . . I don't know. I guess I really care for you . . ." Her words trailed off when she glanced up at Kuzco, their eyes meeting.  
"Why don't you believe me that you used to live in the palace?"  
"Cusi . . . I would remember that if I had, don't you think?"  
Kuzco cringed, hearing that name. "Hey, uh, Nhutalu . . . I've got a surprise for you. Why don't you come with me?" Pacha wasn't around to stop him now. He had gone -- with Kronk -- elsewhere in the palace and the young Emperor knew of plans to eventually take the llama that was Yzma back to the village. No one was certain when or where or even how they would do it. If anyone at the village found out that it was Yzma, there was a good chance she would face instant and quite unpleasant death.  
But it was no concern of his any longer.   
Kuzco took Nhutalu by her hand, leading her through the longest passage of the palace. Yes, he knew exactly how he would do it now. In fact, it was perfect, and not just because he was perfect, being the Emperor. No, if she liked him enough already, she would like him even better after finding out the truth.  
"Where are we going?" Nhutalu asked. "I thought we would head back to Pacha and Chicha's . . ."  
"You'll see, you'll see! Close your eyes!"  
After a hesitation, she complied and he led her to just where he wanted her. She heard the sound of a door closing, one that led to a large, rather empty room. This prompted her to ask, "Where are we?"  
"You'll see."  
"With my eyes closed?"  
Kuzco repositioned Nhutalu and took a moment to prepare himself. "Surprise!"  
Nhutalu opened her eyes slowly, glancing around herself. "We're in the throne room . . . Why?"  
"Surprise!" Kuzco announced again, this time pointing to himself.  
"I've . . . been in the throne room before, Cusi. I don't get it -- what's the surprise?"  
"I'm the surprise!" He grinned at her, an ear to ear smile that caused his eyes to almost entirely vanish above his cheeks.  
On the other hand, the obliging smile that Nhutalu wore quickly faded. "What?"  
"I'm Emperor Kuzco!"  
"Cusi, stop kidding around." Now she was frowning. "It's not funny."  
"I'm not kidding! My name's not really Cusi . . . I'm actually Emperor Kuzco! I had to change my name while I was living in the village to protect myself from Yzma." He really wanted to explain the whole story to her but blaming her about the whole thing with Yzma seemed extremely foolish.  
Goosebumps raised all along her forearms and on the back of her neck. "No . . . It can't be . . ." But her chills didn't lie. She had thought there was something strange about 'Cusi.' And he being Emperor, that would certainly explain it!  
"Uh huh!" He nodded. "I'm Emperor Kuzco!"  
Nhutalu took a step back, putting her hands to her lips. "I . . . I . . ." She stuttered, a split second before her anger bubbled up out of her. "You lied to me!" She suddenly yelled. "How could you?"  
What remained of Kuzco's smile instantly fell. "You're not happy?" He asked, confused.  
She continued backing away, staring at him in shock. "No! How could I be? You lied to me! About who you are! How can I trust you anymore?!"  
"I had to . . ." He tried to explain.  
"I can't stay here . . ." Nhutalu's voice shook dangerously, anger and sadness fighting each other for control of her body.  
"Why?"  
"Don't you see? Isn't it obvious?"  
"No . . . I really don't . . . It isn't . . ."  
"You're too good for me! I'm just a lowly peasant girl from a lowly village! I . . . I . . . don't deserve you!"  
"Where are you going? Talu --"  
"I'm going home," she replied, her anger cooling. In a chilly demeanor, she bowed to him. "Your Highness." When she came back up, she caught his sad, wide-eyed stare. The tightening in her chest and throat pushed her to turn around and she fled the palace.  
"But . . . But . . ." Kuzco said, staring after her helplessly. "I love you . . ."  



	11. Finding the Llama Within

Chapter Ten  
  
"If you're gone -- maybe it's time to go home  
There's an awful lot of breathing room  
But I can hardly move  
If you're gone -- baby you need to come home  
Cuz there's a little bit of something me  
In everything in you . . ."  
  
~By Matchbox 20, "If You're Gone "  
  
Chicha sat in silence, cross-legged, picking the silk off of an ear of corn. The basket before her rocked back and forth with great force as an ear of corn had been hurled into it and she glanced up slowly. Nhutalu's face was red as if she was holding her breath and it looked as if she would explode at any moment.  
"Would you like to talk about it?" Chicha asked quietly, flinching in preparation for Nhutalu's response.  
"I can't believe he lied to me!" Nhutalu cried. A moment of silence passed and the red seemed to drain from her face. "I mean . . . He lied about who he was! I thought I knew him! Everything I found out was wrong!" And the worst part was the she felt somewhat hypocritical. No, no, it didn't matter. "It doesn't matter. It's not like he loved me."  
Chicha watched the girl for a few moments in silence, deciding what she should say. That is, trying to figure out what wouldn't make things worse. She finally knew how Pacha must have felt all that time trying to console Kuzco when Kuzco didn't want consoling. Like he probably felt at that very moment, over in the palace.  
Chicha drew in a deep breath. "Talu . . . I think he does love you."  
Nhutalu glanced at Chicha with a look that spoke all too clearly: How in the world could Chicha say such things?  
"Tell me how it happened again," she requested. "How Kuzco ended up as a llama this time."  
Nhutalu frowned. She resented that name. "Yzma threw the bottle of potion at me and he caught it."  
"So you're telling me that he risked his life to save yours? If that doesn't show you he loves you . . ."  
The girl turned away, closing her eyes. All she had wanted was to hear it. From him. Was that too much to ask? "Chicha . . ."  
"Yes?"  
"He insisted I used to live in the palace. Why would he say such things?"  
Sighing, Chicha set another husked ear of corn in the basket and stood up. "Why don't we go outside, huh, Sweetie?"  
Nhutalu nodded and followed Chicha in silence, but watched her expectantly.  
The two women sat down in the backyard in a spot which overlooked Kuzco's palace as it towered off in the distance.   
"Your family, Talu," Chicha began to explain, "worked as servants in the palace for many generations. Your parents, in fact, were dear friends of Kuzco's parents. His father considered making your father his advisor. Other members of the royal family protested this decision so it never happened."  
"Why not?" Nhutalu asked.  
"They could not dismiss the fact that your father was a servant. See, Talu, not everyone's as willing to befriend a peasant or servant as Emperor Kuzco is."  
"This is supposed to impress me?"  
"No. This is supposed to show you how special you must be to him. Anyway . . . Your parents still lived in the palace when you were born. In fact, you and your parents lived in the palace until you were about three, I think. Your mother was the midwife to Kuzco's mother when he was born --"  
"Too much information! Please don't!" Nhutalu cried.  
Chicha sighed, almost irritably. "You wanted to know, didn't you?"  
"Yes. I'm sorry," muttered Nhutalu, lowering her head.  
"Anyway, Kuzco was never allowed to play with the other kids in the palace. I never imagined this bugged him until he built his little place up there on the hill next to ours. One day when I took the kids up to see him, I saw a statue of you on one of his shelves. Apparently he used to watch you play with the other kids and wanted nothing more than to join the group. Especially because of you. When his parents forbade him from joining in on the fun, he threw a fit and it seemed that the only way to appease him was to bring in the Empire's most talented sculptor to create a likeness of you."  
Nhutalu frowned. "I feel so . . . so . . . so stalked."  
Sighing once more, Chicha told her, "I imagine he's always loved you."  
"Then why couldn't he say so?"  
With a shrug, Chicha replied, "Some people have great difficulty with things like that. In the royal hierarchy, words like 'I love you' are not freely distributed. I'm sure a moment has not passed since you left that he hasn't kicked himself for his loss . . ."  
  
"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Pacha asked, narrowing his eyes at the emperor.  
Emperor Kuzco sighed, running a finger along a dent in his crown in an almost lazy fashion. "Yes." He sounded annoyed. "Besides, I've got Ysalane. She'll take care of me." So would, in fact, most all of the girls in his Aqllawasi.  
Now Pacha frowned. Since meeting Ysalane, he'd been quite wary about her, but couldn't put a finger on what it was and never dared speak to anyone about it. Not even Chicha. He even went as far as keeping the secret from his herd of llamas; he couldn't quite look at them the same way after his initial adventure with Kuzco. There was always that uncertainty of a patented Emperor Kuzco mood swing if just the wrong thing was said at just the wrong time.  
"Emperor Kuzco --" Pacha began.  
Kuzco glanced up at the peasant from his crown, not moving his head at all. "I said, I'll be fine. I have redecorating to do. If I see another statue of Her Ancientness, someone's gonna have to clean up the Royal lunch from the palace floor."  
Pacha nodded slightly. "Okay, okay. I can tell when I'm not needed." Kuzco had this nasty habit of acting like a total teenager, sometimes. But Pacha stood in front of the throne for another few moments, watching Kuzco in silence.  
"Go on, get outta here. Don't you think I've kept you away from Chicha long enough?"  
Pacha would not argue with that. "Very well, Your Highness." Taking a deep breath, he added while slowly turning away, "You know where to find me." Then he paused. "You're not angry at me because of the whole fake name thing, are you?"  
"Of course not!" The thought had only crossed Kuzco's mind each time he looked Pacha's way to have him killed. Repeatedly. "Now go on! You're hogging all my royal air!"  
Pacha watched Kuzco carefully. It sounded like the young emperor was joking. It looked like he was joking, too. But he could not dismiss the persistent nagging feeling that Kuzco wanted him dead. "Well . . ." He half shrugged, dropping his hands against his thighs. "I guess I'll be on my way, then."  
"Okay. Bye."  
"Yeah. Um . . . Yeah. See ya, I guess." With a sigh, Pacha left Kuzco's presence, and the palace as well.  
  
"So because he said so, they were banished?" Asked Nhutalu incredulously once Chicha and her story had wound down.  
"Yeah . . ." Chicha nodded. "Despite the fact that he was only a child, they never forgave him."  
Nhutalu sat in silence for a moment. Something just wasn't making sense to her. Her parents could not bring themselves to forgiving a child? The whole thing had been a huge mistake, too.  
They refused to tell her anything about that part of their lives. Her life! So who was in the wrong?  
All that explanation and it left her just as confused -- if not more so -- than before.  
"So where does that leave . . ." She sighed, not wishing to use that name. "Where does that leave Emperor Kuzco and me?"  
Chicha smiled, standing up from her spot, gently putting her hand beneath the girl's chin so that she could look into her eyes. "I think that one's up to you." She quickly left Nhutalu to ponder the new information.  
But Nhutalu sighed, casting a lengthy glance at the palace off in the distance. It wasn't up to her, though. By leaving the way she had, she'd probably ensured that Kuzco would never want to see her again. "I screwed up so bad," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Emperor Kuzco."  
Her mind had been made up, however. There was no going back. What she had done, the path she had chosen, was irreparable.  
It's not like there weren't other guys in the village. In fact, there were lots of other guys in the village, none of whom knew the first thing about her. This, of course, was both a good and bad thing; none of them knew her so they shouldn't dislike her, but . . . none of them knew her. And of that multitude of men, none were like Kuzco. He had been perfect for her and she simply could not ignore that.  
Slowly, Nhutalu stood up. Even if she begged, he likely would not have her back. Not if all the horrible things that Yzma and her own parents had said about the Emperor were true. But how could she trust her parents anymore? He hadn't seemed even half as selfish and heartless as Yzma'd made him out to be.  
However, she'd already resigned to her fate. "Goodbye," she told the palace, then retreated into Chicha and Pacha's hut.  
  
"I tried to get rid of those statues," Ysalane explained between taking sips of some sweet, tea-like concoction. "But the five or six remaining guards would not listen to me."  
Kuzco frowned, breathing out through his nose. That's the first thing he had to fix. This 'no guards' situation was bad news.  
"And the painters have decided they want to get paid if they're to repaint the palace again."  
Kuzco wrinkled his nose. Since when did peasants make their own decisions? That's right -- he'd been gone from his throne for a long time. Longer than he'd preferred admitting to.  
"I did not know what to do without you. Kuzco, you really mustn't leave like that again."  
He lowered his head, picking up the two-pronged fork to his right. He no longer had reason to leave like that again. Strangely enough, being confined to the palace wasn't as appealing as it once was.  
Why had so much changed in his life since meeting Nhutalu? And why had he embraced it so affectionately? When he was growing up, he hated change.  
"Dinner, Your Majesties." One of the few remaining servants of the palace entered the dining room, bowing slightly with a tray in her hands. She dished up part of the meal for them and glanced between the two. "It's nice to see the two of you here like this."  
Ysalane looked up at the girl and smiled; Kuzco did so and frowned.  
"I apologize if I overstepped my bounds," she whispered under Kuzco's sudden reproachful glare.  
"Is this all our dinner consists of?" Kuzco asked her impatiently.  
"No, Your Emperorship," said the servant, shaking her head. "I shall go get you the remainder of the food . . . If that is your wish."  
The Emperor looked at her in response but spoke nothing further to her.  
"Very well." The servant bowed stiffly, then backed away from Ysalane and Kuzco quickly as she excused herself. However, the silence she left them in was near deafening.  
Ysalane resumed studying her fork. Kuzco glanced around the dining room, at the table, the idol, then back at his hands. Ultimately, he began feeling rather bad for treating Ysalane in such a way, but the fact was, she had it coming to her. For years, she had it coming to her.  
Curse Pacha for teaching him how to feel guilty! Kuzco could very well have lived his life happily without a conscience. But noooo, Pacha had to go and give him one!  
"So . . ." Ysalane replied, equally uncomfortable.  
"How's our football team doing?"  
She frowned. "Kuzco, we don't have a football team."  
"Oh. Right. Well then maybe we need one." Quickly, he picked up his fork, plucking an unusual rhythm with his fingertips on the prongs. Doink. Doink. Doink, doink, doink. Doink. Doink. Doink, doink, doink.  
Absently, Ysalane plucked at her fork's prongs in the off beats of Kuzco's rhythm. Silence. Doink. Silence. Doink. Silence, doink, silence, doink, silence, doink. She plucked twice more for added measure, then glanced up at Kuzco with a shy smile.  
He had not noticed a thing. Something had been bugging him for quite some time and she had been unable to pinpoint it on her own or figure out a way to drag it out of him.  
Unfortunately, that was one lesson Pacha had been unable to teach him; never keep secrets from a pregnant woman.  
Ysalane dropped her fork on the table where it clattered loudly for a few moments, snapping Kuzco back into the present. He looked around the room anxiously at first before settling his gaze irritably upon Ysalane.  
"What's wrong, Kuzco?" She finally asked him.  
Wasn't it obvious? Then he smugly decided, if she didn't already know, he wasn't going to tell her. Yes, that would show her!  
. . . What a horribly female thing to do. "Nothing's wrong," he opted to tell her in tones so cold they could have frozen the entire desert.  
She looked at him, straightening as best she could with her ridiculously bloated belly. "Fine," she responded, equally icily. "I'm glad nothing's wrong. I wouldn't want you to be unhappy."  
Yeah, right. Kuzco nodded, then dropping her gaze. Did she still take him for a total chump after all these years? Sure she did; why shouldn't she? In her eyes, he had never grown up. That was one thing, if he was forced to choose, that he disliked most about Ysalane.  
"I was considering distributing our plague of guinea pigs to the surrounding villages for food," Ysalane informed Kuzco out of nowhere.  
"You mean the ones that really used to be the palace guards?" Kuzco asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust.  
"You say that like it's a bad thing!" Ysalane protested. "I thought about all those poor, starving peasant people who could benefit from it!"  
"Who cares about the peasants," Kuzco grumbled. But as much as he attempted to convince himself, he couldn't make himself believe that he didn't care. He cared too much; about one particular family and one particular girl.  
Ysalane took a deep breath, glancing away from Kuzco finally. With as strongly as he spoke, perhaps she did not want to know after all. Besides, peasants were not that bad. She had liked that Nhutalu girl well enough. On top of being a decent peasant, she'd made -- what looked like -- a darn good servant, as well. "I would think you should care about the peasants," she reprimanded Kuzco. "They are the ones who really support this Empire!"  
For numerous reasons, Kuzco wanted to storm out of the dining room at that moment. His hunger helped him keep his temper under control -- if not just barely. But the only thing he could think to tell her was, "That's nice. But, I remind you, I'm the Emperor and you're not. So what I say, goes. Get it, got it? Good."  
Ysalane rested her elbow on the table quite heavily and fumed silently behind the hand she held in front of her mouth.  
Silence consumed the two again when another servant entered the dining room. She cautiously glanced between Ysalane and Kuzco, not having to try very hard to sense the tension between the two. She quickly and wordlessly dished up some more food for them before excusing herself from the dining room hastily.  
Kuzco stared at Ysalane for a moment before picking through the food on his plate. "Hey, Ysalane -- did you know this stuff doesn't naturally occur like this?"  
Ysalane furrowed her eyebrows, picking up a kernel between her fingers. "These? Stop pulling my leg!"  
Kuzco suddenly got very annoyed with people reacting to him like that. "Am I really that untrustworthy?!" He cried.  
She blinked. "Huh? . . . No . . . Why do you ask?"  
"Nothing," he mumbled, "nevermind, you wouldn't understand."  
In the following silence, they began eating their dinner. About halfway through the meal, Kuzco glanced up. His older sister, who seldom ate more than two forkfuls of food per meal, was sure capable of packing the food away when she was pregnant. She glanced up, regarding him around a mouthful of corn. "What?"  
He wanted to say how much she impressed him but she would only take that the wrong way. Lowering his head, he replied, "Nothing. Nevermind."  
Ysalane nearly choked on her mouthful of corn. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it before. There was someone else. There had to be. How long had he been gone, after all? But how could she approach the topic? Well, the direct approach always worked. "Kuzco, is there another woman?"  
"That depends on what the definition of is is."  
"What's that supposed to mean?!"  
"Figure it out for yourself. I'm not your tutor." Kuzco then sighed, poking through his pile of corn kernels. Suddenly, he slammed his fist on the table, sending corn kernels everywhere.  
Ysalane jumped, gripping her fork tightly. "What?"  
"Why must everything remind me of her?!" He yelled.  
Ysalane narrowed her eyes at Kuzco. "So there is another girl!"  
Kuzco instantly lost his appetite as Ysalane began playing -- much more forcibly -- with her fork prongs. "What do you mean 'another girl'?" He asked her.  
"Is . . . there . . . another . . . girl?"  
"Ysalane, I may have been required to marry you by royal law to keep our blood line pure . . . But I don't love you. Gah -- you're my sister! It was bad enough that we --"  
"Stoppit!" Ysalane cried. The fork broke and its prongs embedded themselves in the table. She stood from her seat and demanded, "Who is she?!"  
"Does it even matter?" Kuzco yelled, standing up as well. "Nhutalu left me forever!" With that, he stalked out of the dining room.  
Ysalane stared after him in shock.  
  
Yzma was exhausted. The walk from the palace had been murder, and Kronk had been kind enough to carry her during more than half of it. With the rest of her memory, she was beginning to forget why she let him go to begin with. He was so nice. Kronk very easily could have left her anywhere along the trail, wherever fate would have had her collapse. He could have left her there to die, but he didn't. She almost wished he had. What kind of life did she have left ahead of her now? Certainly not one very much worth living.  
At the same time Yzma resented Kronk for saving her, she could not ignore that nature-given urge to live. It became almost like a form of punishment. It just wasn't fair.  
Kronk took Yzma to a place in Pacha's village that she'd never previously been. There were other llamas there; big, fat, healthy looking ones. And they spoke to her in a language she did not yet understand.  
Yzma was incredibly frustrated. She was currently at that strange time between forgetting her human vocabulary but before she learned any llama lingo.  
Kronk gently set Yzmallama down on a soft patch of grass beneath the shield of a wooden structure overrun by a dark green vine of some sort. As Kronk stepped back, Yzma was quickly surrounded by a small group of young girls. A couple of them went to work almost immediately with brushes, cleaning her wool of dirt and leaves.  
One girl hesitated, glancing up at Kronk while fiddling with her brush. "Kronk?"  
He looked at her, acknowledging her, but not speaking.  
"This llama does not look healthy," she informed him.  
"She is not exactly young," Kronk replied solemnly. "So please take good care of her." He turned to leave the llamawashers', casting a lingering glance over his shoulder at Yzma. He knew his conscience would not leave him alone but he no longer had any choice; this was what was best for her. Silently, he left, heading straight for Pacha's hut.  
  
Nhutalu sat outside of Pacha's hut, slowly running a brush through her hair. She stared off into the sky rather vacantly as she did this, studying the high, puffy white clouds almost as if she was stargazing. Pacha had already passed her by some time back and words had been exchanged. He'd been friendly enough, openly surprised that Nhutalu had gone to his home as opposed to that of her parents. Despite what kind words he'd provided her, she could tell he was angry with the decision she'd made. Well, no matter, it wasn't his decision. He had not been betrayed. Perhaps he realized this and that was why he kept his mouth shut -- simply because he had no room to talk.  
Everything aside, Nhutalu could not ignore the fact that she was miserable. Even with Chicha's accompaniment, she was lonely. Cusi -- or Kuzco -- or whatever his name was! -- left a gaping hole in her existence. No matter how she attempted to patch it, it was still there.  
. . . There was always that one option of replacing him. But with who?  
"Hey, Nhutalu! What are you doing here? Cusi said you went home."  
Nhutalu glanced up quickly. "Kronkie!" She cried, hoping her excitement did not sound too false. "How are you?" She jumped up from her spot and wrapped her arms around him.  
At first, she cringed. She was hugging a guy who wasn't related to her and who wasn't Kuzco. No, he wasn't anything like Kuzco -- tall, muscular.  
Perhaps she could get used to the muscular thing; it didn't feel so bad the longer she held on to him. Nhutalu pulled away, glancing up and batting her eyelashes at him. "How are you?" She asked again.  
Kronk frowned. "I took Yzma over to be pampered at the llamawashers."  
Nhutalu's smile fell instantly. "Oh . . . Uh . . . I'm sorry about that."  
"Don't worry about it . . . It's . . . probably what's best for her, anyway. . . . I won't disagree that she didn't deserve it, either."  
"I didn't hurt you, did I?"  
"Not as much as you hurt Cusi."  
"Kuzco," Nhutalu spat, "and it wasn't nearly as much as he hurt me."  
Kronk looked at her, cocking his head to one side.  
"What?" She asked him warily.  
"Nothing . . . Uh . . . Has Pacha come by here already?"  
Nhutalu sighed. "You can't tell by the look on my face?"  
Kronk nodded. "Okay. Thank you." Without anything further, he proceeded -- suspiciously quickly -- up to Pacha's hut.  
"Great," she muttered. Potential boyfriend number two, a total loss. For a moment, she considered following Kronk but realized she was not up to overhearing all the bad things they were undoubtedly saying about her. With a hefty sigh, she resumed brushing her hair and staring up at the sky.  
  
Silence reigned within the walls of the Emperor's Aqllawasi, but dirty looks abounded. Most were directed toward Kelsey, a good number of those which were supposed to be aimed at Ysalane. But with Kuzco back in the palace, no one dared pushing her luck in seeing how strong the brother-sister relationship was at that point in time. Ysalane, herself, was giving more than her share of dirty looks, though those seemed to be aimed at no one in particular. She just had a look of general disgust on her face.  
The other girls seemed content in not inquiring as to what put Ysalane into such a bad mood. Most of them just attributed it to her being in the later months of her pregnancy and probably in a great amount of discomfort. It was easier to blow off that way, in any case. Besides, Kelsey and Nhutalu had been the only girls who showed even the most remote sympathy for her.  
Kelsey ignored the dirty looks, however, busying herself with catering to Ysalane's whims. And at that particular moment, Ysalane's whim included a foot massage. Kelsey was on her knees at Ysalane's chair, her thumbs kneading into the soles of Ysalane's feet. The pregnant woman remained silent, though she continued to fume. After a little while, when the whispers of the other girls were loud enough so that she could understand what was being said about her, Kelsey addressed Ysalane. She was hoping that by starting a conversation, maybe the other girls would stop talking about her -- or at least their cruel chatter would be drowned out.  
"May I ask you what's the matter?" Kelsey ventured.  
"You may ask," replied Ysalane curtly. A few nearby girls snickered, having overheard this.  
Kelsey flinched slightly, rather confused. "Uh . . . What's the matter?"  
"It's none of your business," Ysalane informed her sullenly, "and you wouldn't understand, anyway."  
"Why do you assume that?"  
"Because you're nothing special, you're just one of the Virgins. You couldn't possibly understand my troubles."  
Kelsey bit her lip to keep from gasping and practically dropped Ysalane's left foot, the one she was currently massaging. Ysalane had never mistreated her, but now it seemed like she was becoming just as cruel as all the other girls.  
"Are your feet massaged sufficiently?" Kelsey asked Ysalane, surprising herself with how cordial the question came out.  
"No," Ysalane snapped. "They still hurt. Why do you ask? What do you want?"  
"I just needed to go stretch my legs," she replied.  
"Go stretch your legs, but hurry back. My shoulders ache now, too."  
Kelsey nodded, standing up slowly. "Thank you."  
"Now don't you dare say I never did anything for you."  
Kelsey barely managed to retain her snort until she was out of the Aqllawasi.  
  
It wasn't more than an hour later when Nhutalu saw Kronk leaving Pacha's hut, a rather pleasant smile on his face. On the whole, Nhutalu found him not unpleasant to look at. She began to wonder why she had never noticed it before.  
"Hello, Kronk," she told him, batting her eyelashes so much that it actually felt like there was an eyelash in her eye. Mildly embarrassed that her flirtations failed, Nhutalu rubbed her eye.  
"Nhutalu," Kronk greeted her, gently taking her around the shoulders.  
"Where are you leading me?"  
Kronk glanced at Nhutalu out of the corner of his eye and almost winked at her. "No where in particular . . . I, uh, I just wanted to talk to you."  
By the way he said 'talk,' Nhutalu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Talk? Talk about what?" Her question came out a little too hopeful and Nhutalu saw that Kronk -- unfortunately -- took notice.  
"What would you like to talk about?"  
She found herself quite tongue-tied suddenly. "Well . . . Uh . . . Um . . . What would you -- I mean, heh, it, uh, sounded like you already had something on your mind."  
"Did it?"  
Was he playing dumb or did he really not know?  
"Well, um, well yeah." Nhutalu frowned.  
Kronk chuckled. "It was nothing too important. Just about you, you know. You and Kuzco."  
Nhutalu instantly shrugged Kronk's arm off her shoulders with a sigh. Why didn't Kronk get it? "What about Kuzco and me?"  
"Do you still care for him?"  
"No." Lying to others was easy enough; but lying to herself was impossible. And it was doubtful that Kronk believed her, anyway. Even if that answer hadn't been a lie, he probably wouldn't have believed it.  
"I don't suppose if there was a way you two could get together again, that you would . . . want to?" Kronk asked.  
Nhutalu glanced at him suspiciously. He couldn't really be that thick, could he? She remained silent.  
"Is that a yes?"  
Nhutalu groaned. "Why would I want to be in a relationship with someone who lied to me?" The question actually was, why would he?  
"You can't forgive him?"  
Yes. Of course she could, since she would be the hypocrite between the two of them if she didn't. "What does that matter? Maybe I don't want him back."  
"You're incredibly uncertain," he pointed out.  
"I am not!"  
"You am so."  
Nhutalu blinked, then giggled.  
"What?" Asked Kronk.  
"You said 'you am so.'"  
"Did I?" He offered a timid smile, glancing down at her.  
She smiled back, suddenly reminded of the 'old days' -- that brief time when she'd enjoyed his company so much that now she began to wonder if there was something more between them. At that moment, it was more like she hoped that there was something more between them.  
"Did you ever stop to think that maybe he's not my type?" Nhutalu asked. . . . Yeah right . . .  
Kronk sighed, gazing off into the distance. She was resisting so fervently that she had to want Kuzco back. Well, there was always one way to get her to go back to him.  
"I have to go," he informed her, his statement almost curt.  
"Where? Why?" Just when she had almost made progress with him, too.  
"I need to get back to the palace," Kronk said.  
"But why?" Nhutalu asked, her voice trembling slightly. The thought of losing someone else -- even if his relationship to her was trivial at that moment in time -- made her desperate to find a way to keep Kronk there with her.  
"Because that's where I belong."  
"No, nono! You belong here!"  
Kronk shook his head, smiling. "I belong where my emperor is. And that, right now, is the palace."  
"Oh, please, don't go!" Nhutalu pouted.  
"Sorry . . . I have to." Giving her a stiff hug, Kronk continued down the path.  
"Maaaan . . ." She sighed. There went another one.  
  
One week passed from the day that Kronk had returned to and then left the village. Life resumed the way it always seemed to -- at least, it did for the most part. Chaca and Tipo were mischievous as ever, keeping their mother on her toes as if she was not busy enough with Manco, who was suddenly hitting growth spurt after growth spurt.  
Pacha kept himself occupied with the llamas and the harvest as the season was drawing to a close. This ensured that he spent as little time as possible with Nhutalu. This also meant that he spent little time with Chicha and his children; they seemed more than understanding but he missed them like crazy. For some reason, since Kuzco built his summer home up the neighboring hill, Pacha's home life had been effected. But blaming anyone else for the current situation would be unfair. He had suggested to Kuzco to use a nom de plum. Perhaps if Nhutalu had known Kuzco's identity all along, none of this would have happened. How easy life could have been.  
Pacha's guilt was eating him up. His decisions had ended up hurting both Kuzco and Nhutalu. For various reasons, he couldn't face Nhutalu and because Nhutalu was staying with her cousin -- his wife -- he couldn't be with his wife.  
And Nhutalu . . . Pacha avoided her like she was the plague. He knew she thought it was because he was mad at her, but that actually wasn't the case. He was afraid he would say something to her that he shouldn't. He assured her repeatedly that he was not angry at her and she swore she believed him.  
But he saw the sad looks she gave him when his back was turned and she thought he couldn't see.  
Yzma looked like she was settling into her new life. She was pampered more than she deserved to be, especially when based on the bad things she'd previously done to everyone else. At least her social life was fitting; the other llamas sensed there was something different about her and steered clear. But Yzma didn't seem to care. With her dwindling human memories, she still attempted to find ways out of her situation. She was having no luck and she knew that time was running out for her.  
There was nothing left for Yzma to do but simply resign to her fate.  
Nhutalu, herself, had gone through many phases since breaking up with Kuzco. At the moment, she was in a deep depression. She seldom spoke anymore and kept mostly to herself. Unfortunately, she was unaware of how concerned Chicha and Pacha -- and even their kids -- were for her. Not that it mattered; she wouldn't have cared that they were worried, anyway. At least, that wouldn't have changed anything.  
Chicha watched Nhutalu leave the hut that particular morning, wanting to say something to her -- something like a good-bye, even. But Nhutalu walked out with her eyes glazed over and Chicha felt as if she would be interrupting something -- whatever it was -- that Nhutalu was thinking.  
Sullenly, Nhutalu found her way down to one of the ponds of Pacha's village; the one where she met Kuzco for the first time. She was not quite sure why she was heading for that particular pond but she just as soon assumed that it was some form of self-masochism. There was a peculiar pleasure in reminiscing over memories that made her want to cry. Perhaps she was trying to convince herself that she was over him. She thought she'd finally convinced everyone else of that fact.  
The pond was serene, its crystalline water rippling gently under the warm late summer breeze. A small frog, lounging on a lily pad, glanced up at Nhutalu and watched her warily as she ran a fingertip along the water's glassy surface.  
"I suppose I'm destined to live alone," she commented to the amphibian with a sigh. "At least I'm no longer an indentured servant."  
. . . So her parents had conveniently forgotten to tell her that they'd once been servants of the palace. And that the heir to the throne had a tiny crush on her . . . and so what if Kuzco had lied to her about his name?  
It was just a name, so what was the big deal?  
"It wasn't just his name," Nhutalu reminded herself. "It was everything about him. He's the Emperor. He's . . . He's everything." . . . Everything according to his stature, according to his name. Everything to her.  
At least she knew things couldn't get worse.  
Just then, Nhutalu caught the sound of approaching footsteps -- many of them. But when she glanced up from the water and the frog and its cozy little lily pad, all she saw was Kronk. He had a wide, eager smile on his face and his eyes twinkled happily.  
"Nhutalu!" He greeted her. "What are you doing here?"  
"What am I doing here?" She grinned. "What are you doing here? I thought you had to be at the palace!"  
"I, uh -- well, technically, yeah . . . I was sent on an errand. A, um, very important errand."  
"Oh --" Nhutalu faltered slightly, her grin fading. "Well, uh, don't let me stand in your way."  
"You're not in my way!" He replied a little too quickly.  
"Well . . . If I'm not in your way, then . . . Maybe I could help you?" Standing up, she leaned heavily against Kronk's vast chest and looked up at him while batting her eyelashes flirtatiously.  
For a moment, he regarded her with a hopeful smile. "There is a way you could help, actually . . . That is, uh, if you wanted to."  
Deciding to 'turn up' the charm, Nhutalu breathed, "Anything for you, Kronkie!"  
Kronk barely kept himself from rolling his eyes skyward. Didn't she get it? "Then you'll go back to the palace with me."  
Nhutalu pushed away from him forcefully, as if he'd been the one leaning on her. Didn't he get it? She couldn't go back to the palace! There was that paralyzing fear that Kuzco would reject her. After all, with what she'd done to him, she deserved it. "No!" She cried. "Not on your life!"  
Kronk's hopeful smile disappeared altogether. "Then you leave me no choice . . ."  
"No choice?" Nhutalu replied warily. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
He glanced over his shoulder and gave a sharp, shrill whistle.  
From out of the foliage sprang what few guards remained from the palace. Nhutalu looked around frantically, crying out in terror as they seized her.  
"What's happening?!" She screamed.  
Sullenly, Kronk informed Nhutalu, "Because you won't go back to Kuzco willingly . . . They're taking you to be sacrificed to the Sun."  
  
Tune in next weekend to see the conclusion of Finding the Llama Within -- chapter eleven and the epilogue! :-) To those of you reviewing, thank you so much for your kind words!  
~Julie  



	12. Finding the Llama Within

Chapter Eleven  
  
"Although loneliness has always been a friend of mine  
I'm leaving my life in your hands   
People say I'm crazy and that I am blind   
Risking it all in a glance   
And how you got me blind is still a mystery,  
I can't get you out of my head   
Don't care what is written in your history,  
As long as you're here with me . . .   
I don't care who you are,  
Where you're from,  
What you did --  
As long as you love me . . .  
Every little thing that you have said and done  
Feels like it's deep within me  
Doesn't really matter if you're on the run,  
It seems like we're meant to be . . .  
I've tried to hide it so that no one knows,  
But I guess it shows when you look into my eyes   
What you did and where you are comin' from, I don't care, as long as you love me, baby."  
~By the Backstreet Boys, "As Long as You Love Me "  
  
Kuzco sighed, preoccupied with examining his bleak life. He did that a lot, lately. What had they done to him?  
They, of course, being Pacha and his family. And Nhutalu.  
Emperor Kuzco used to be a ruthless, self-centered monarch. He longed for those days; they really were simpler times, back then. And then they came along and taught him how to care and love. He hated them for that. How could they? If they really cared for him, they wouldn't have taught him how to love; he had only gotten hurt because of that.  
When it came down to it, he knew he had only himself to blame. He had pulled Pacha into his life. And if -- deep down inside -- he'd been able to trust his own decision-making skills instead of burying them within layers of inferiority complex, he'd have disregarded Pacha's advice from the beginning and wouldn't have lied to Nhutalu about his identity.  
Kuzco would have introduced himself properly -- as the Emperor -- and . . . perhaps she would not have believed him immediately. Somehow he'd have proved himself to her and then they'd have a lengthy, probably difficult courtship.  
Or, if Nhutalu did believe that he was the Emperor, and had responded the same way she did when she found out, somehow believing that she wasn't worthy of him, then he'd slowly win her over.  
But at least their friendship would have been based in truths instead of lies.  
When it came down to it, Nhutalu would not have left him and that's what mattered. She ripped Kuzco's heart out when she ran off. Yet another person who left him; despite her promises otherwise.  
It was then that Kuzco decided that life -- his life, despite the fact that he was a deity -- stunk. On the bright side, he knew things couldn't get much worse.  
  
"Where were we supposed to take her?"  
"They'd said the Aqllawasi. But I don't see why."  
"Ysalane wants to meet her, that's why."  
"Uh . . . Is that wise?"  
"Nhutalu said, herself, that they've already met."  
"And?"  
"They got along. She said Ysalane liked her."  
"Liked."  
"What do you mean?"  
"If Ysalane finds out about the . . . the you know . . . with the Emperor . . . Nhutalu's in for it."  
"Oh, come on. Ysalane's not like that."  
"You haven't seen her temper."  
"I don't need to. I know her and I know she's not like that."  
"Whatever."  
Nhutalu blinked. She knew the guards and Kronk were talking about her. She was right there, right beside them -- actually in their midst. But it was as if she heard everything from all the way down an empty hallway. The echo of each word overpowered the sounds of the word following it and soon it all became a meaningless cacophony.  
There she was, attempting to figure out how it was, exactly, that she'd been chosen as a sacrifice. They normally sacrificed four legged animals, or babies.  
If this was Kuzco's idea . . . well, then, that would make sense . . . If the things Nhutalu's parents believed about him were true.  
Nhutalu swallowed thickly. This was the second time in a matter of weeks that her life was in danger. How could that be? Was she really that unlucky?  
Perhaps in denial, Nhutalu was beginning to come to terms with her fate. Certainly she would be unable to reverse the decision; she didn't even know who she would go to in order to make such a plea.  
She could always beseech the Emperor . . .  
Nhutalu couldn't stop a giggle from escaping her lips. Such a stupid, ridiculous idea! As they continued up the steps to what she assumed was the Aqllawasi, she knew the guards and Kronk were all staring at her.  
Well so what if they were? They weren't the ones about to be sacrificed to who knows what in who knows what way.  
Many feet before the door to the Aqllawasi, stood Ysalane, her back arched slightly and her hand resting atop her swollen belly.  
That pose was one that had become all too familiar to Ysalane; the excitement over her pregnancy had worn off and she was at the point where she just wanted to have it over with.  
"Nhutalu!" Ysalane cried, reaching out and pulling the girl into an awkward hug. "I'm so glad to see you!"  
The guards exchanged glances as Kronk ventured up to Ysalane. "May I talk with you?" He asked her, obviously extremely uncomfortable near her.  
Ysalane nodded, guiding Nhutalu into the building. "You hang out in here, Sweetheart, and I'll be right with you."  
The door shut with a definitive sound. Nhutalu slowly looked around, seeing girls in similarly cut white dresses lounging all over the place. Most were talking amongst themselves, but some actually took a moment out of their busy lives to look up and -- just barely -- acknowledge Nhutalu's presence. Of that group, a couple girls resumed their conversations, but making it obvious they had changed the subject to her.  
Nhutalu fidgeted from foot to foot, taking her hair into her hands, wrapping it around and around. "Uh . . . hi . . ." She whispered, wondering if anyone would have replied even if they had heard her salutation.  
As it was, no one even batted an eyelash.  
A few minutes later, just when Nhutalu's having been snubbed really began to agitate her, the front door opened again.  
Ysalane stepped inside the Aqllawasi, her face no darker than the white of her dress. "Nhutalu . . ." Said she, taking Nhutalu by the hand and leading her toward the back of the room. "I got the good news!"  
"Good news?" Nhutalu cried.  
"Oh, yes!" Ysalane gushed. "It's an honor to be sacrificed to the God. Half the girls here would . . . kill to be in your position!"  
Was that a threat? Nhutalu noticed that it appeared as if most everyone who heard that comment agreed with Ysalane. She swallowed thickly. "Where are you taking me?"  
"We must get you properly attired!" Ysalane took Nhutalu's hand, leading her into another part of the building eagerly. "We couldn't possibly sacrifice you if you look like that."  
"What's wrong with the way I look?"  
Ysalane looked over Nhutalu slowly, pursing her lips in deep thought. "Too festive."  
Too festive?! Nhutalu was barely able to swallow the lump in her throat. Suddenly she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. What next?  
  
"Pacha . . ." Chicha looked up at him with Manco in her arms and tears brimming in her eyes. "You can't go again!"  
"I have to, Sweetie! I promised Kronk," Pacha explained quietly. "I'm not about to break my promise."  
"But . . . But . . . It's not fair!"  
"I know, Chicha . . . It's almost over."  
"You keep telling me that. It's never over!"  
"No . . ." Pacha smiled slightly. "This time it has to be over."  
Chicha narrowed her eyes at her husband. "What are you up to?"  
He chuckled. "You'll hear all about it . . ."  
"No I won't," she told him stubbornly.  
Pacha blinked. "What? Honey . . . What do you mean?"  
"I won't hear about it, Pacha. I'm going with you. I'm going to witness it first hand."  
"But Chicha -- the kids --"  
Chicha put her hand on her hip once juggling Manco around. With a stern look, she informed Pacha stubbornly, "I'm. Going. With. You."  
Pacha sighed. "Yes, Dear." And of course, that meant the kids would be going, too. What an adventure that would be.  
  
Nhutalu stood in the middle of the room, feeling countless pairs of eyes scrutinize her in her sacrifice-sanctioned outfit. It was similar to the outfits Yzma had made her wear except for the pattern edging along the hems. However, she was far more uncomfortable in the Aqllawasi, surrounded by girls and women who somehow made the exact same outfit she was dressed in look elegant.  
And they were all staring at her, circled around her and muttering things about her. Overall, she was glad she couldn't understand them. But being put on display made her wonder if the whole thing was just some wretched initiation ritual. Torment the girl and then take her out to die. Sure, it made sense.  
"So."  
Nhutalu turned toward the voice, unable to hide a quick shiver that ran down the back of her neck. She recognized it as the one belonging to Ysalane, but its tone was unfamiliar. "Y-Ysalane?" Nhutalu stuttered. "Is something the matter?"  
"Oh no . . . Nothing's wrong, per se. I just, em, wanted to talk to you. Let's take a walk, shall we?" Ysalane suggested, firmly taking Nhutalu's hand.  
"But . . . Your baby --" Nhutalu started. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? I mean . . . What if, you know, something happens? . . . while we're gone!"  
The girls surrounding her burst out in all forms of laughter; all except two girls sitting in the far corner of the room and Ysalane, whose frown somehow deepened.  
"Come on." Ysalane said decisively. Before any further excitement could commence, Ysalane led Nhutalu from the Aqllawasi.  
They took the walk slowly -- for Ysalane's unborn baby's protection -- and also because Nhutalu was still exhausted due to the trip to the palace from Pacha's village. They were also silent as the descended the great steps of the palace. It was only near the bottom, where the staircase emptied out into the city surrounding the palace, that conversation started again.  
"To the left, the city," Ysalane pointed out. "Also to the left is the marketplace. Now, to the right? That's a path that leads down to the city's crops. Many of the palace's servants use these crops to provide my family with their food. It gets to us much faster than when we get our food from the other crops in the empire."  
Nhutalu frowned. Why was Ysalane telling her all this?  
Ysalane gestured grandly while turning back around toward the path they'd been traveling down. "And that is Emperor Kuzco's palace. My Emperor Kuzco's palace."  
Nhutalu's eyes narrowed instantly. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
Suddenly, Ysalane grabbed Nhutalu roughly by the arms. "I don't know who you think you are but I'm here to tell you that Kuzco's mine. See this baby here? That's his. Got it?"  
Nhutalu remained silent mostly in shock. Kuzco didn't have anyone else. At least he hadn't told her about anyone else. Then again, he'd conveniently not told her who he really was.  
She suddenly felt as if he'd not told her everything.  
Nhutalu's hands clenched closed suddenly. What else could there possibly be?  
"But you know, despite all of that, he's still got a thing for you." Ysalane lowered her voice, hissing threateningly. "Well let me tell you something, Sweetie. You are nothing. And I'm putting you exactly where you belong!"  
  
Ysalane knocked timidly on the wall just inside the entrance to the throne room. "Kuzco, love? Can I talk to you for a moment?"  
Kuzco cringed. "Don't call me that!" He, however, was unsure of what disturbed him more; hearing his sister call him 'love' or hearing his real name, that which had somehow managed to offend Nhutalu.  
She dismissed his sour reply and approached, figuring that if he hadn't said anything about not wanting to talk to her, that meant he must have wanted to. She waddled up to him, leaning heavily on the armrest of his throne when she finally reached him, out of breath.  
"So, uh . . ." Ysalane began, suddenly too anxious to approach the issue directly.  
Irritated that his older sister was taking up his precious brooding time, he snapped, "What do you want from me? Spit it out already!"  
Ysalane took a moment to review the situation. Kuzco was already married -- and technically he had been since his birth because she had already been born -- but by law was allowed to pick himself a virginal bride to whom he was not previously related. She knew that he loved Nhutalu, even if he'd never said it. And it was Ysalane's job to assemble another line-up of potential brides; except that she'd forgotten to inform the doting old man who'd replaced her previously due to Yzma's wishes that she was, in fact, taking her old job back. That was a minor oversight that would need to be fixed at Ysalane's first available moment. But the important thing was to keep Nhutalu out of the line-up. Well, that was certainly simple enough; Ysalane had been quite adept at finding something for Nhutalu to do. Finally, Ysalane decided on what she could say.  
"I hate to be the one to tell you this," she began.  
"I'm so sure," he muttered, rolling his eyes. Always looking out for Baby Brother.  
"But you've managed to elude picking yourself a bride."  
"Sounds like good news to me. And I'll continue to elude picking a bride until I see one who's worthy of me." And there was only one girl in the whole of the world who he knew was worthy. He was just beginning to wonder if he was worthy of her. But he didn't dare let on.  
"I can't allow you to do that. You have to pick a bride. The law says so." Ysalane didn't actually want him to choose a bride but she was not about to have her brother disrupt the working order of things. But taking advantage of the situation, she'd have him choose some scummy girl who he'd learn to dislike more and more as time went on and then maybe he'd realize how wonderful Ysalane really was -- and then he'd love and appreciate her the way she'd always wanted him to.  
Kuzco frowned. Nuts to the law! He'd just have to go and rewrite it. "We'll talk about this later," he decided.  
"Really?" Ysalane squealed, her eyes lighting up. "Do you mean it?"  
"Yes," he sighed. "Now get out. And fetch my scribe for me."  
Too happy about his sudden, not to mention suspicious change of heart to care about the way he'd just treated her , Ysalane skipped off as best she could with her colossal tummy leading the way.  
  
It was hot. Ridiculously, unfairly hot. And of course, dry; parched-throat, itchy-eyed, sandpaper-palms, straw-hair, type dry. Nhutalu thought she would keel over and whither away in the heat, and not even the water could cool her or soothe her throat. It was so dry that she could barely swallow and feeling the roof of her mouth with her tongue was beginning to remind her of licking the back of a lizard. Not that she would know what licking the back of a lizard was like, exactly.  
Nhutalu could never have imagined feeling so miserable. She wanted to kill Ysalane for doing this to her. What did Ysalane have against her, anyway?  
Four long days had passed since Ysalane deposited Nhutalu in the fields with the rest of the palace servants. They all seemed unaffected by the infernal heat, working away as they did any other day; rain or shine, hot or cold. But Nhutalu was not accustomed to such hard labor and harsh treatment. Although she was a peasant and had been required to help out in the fields at an early age, she'd had a pretty cushy life, growing up. That, she had her parents to thank for.  
Ysalane was abusing Nhutalu. Slapping her, pushing her, calling her all sorts of impolite names that an Empress just shouldn't even know of. Of course, the girls of the Aqllawasi supported what Ysalane did and, in fact, participated in much of the name-calling and physical abuse, themselves.  
Nhutalu tolerated this but only because there seemed to be no other option. Besides, saying nothing about it merely seemed to agitate Ysalane further. Nhutalu was proud of herself; she'd managed to succeed in not showing any emotion toward her situation. She had not cried, not even once. Nor had she even felt the need to.  
Nhutalu began to wonder if that was because her tear ducts had permanently dried up in the wretched midday heat and were simply unable to produce any moisture anymore.  
Only one or two spots on Nhutalu's body had not been bruised or scraped -- yet. But every time she moved, each separate muscle ached in ways she previously thought impossible.  
That particular day found Nhutalu closer to a nervous breakdown than ever before. Tears stung and burned in her dry eyes and her chapped lips remained partly opened -- but only because that was the only position that didn't cause her excruciating pain. The nape of her neck had been sunburned -- repeatedly -- and each time the ends of her hair, pulled up into a sloppy ponytail, brushed it, she wanted to cry out. The skin there had become so raw, in fact, that she almost could not even turn her head to look around. When she did, each torched fold of flesh would brush against the equally burned folds above and below it.  
Nhutalu could think of fewer things worse than this. In fact, comparing Ysalane to Yzma, Yzma had been kinder -- by far -- to Nhutalu. In disbelief, Nhutalu found herself almost actually beginning to miss Yzma. Why did Yzma have to go and try to hurt both Kuzco and her?  
In the midday oven, Nhutalu thought she was beginning to hallucinate. She could have sworn she saw Pacha and Chicha wandering up the path alongside the field in which Nhutalu toiled, all three of their young children in tow. But that couldn't be. Nhutalu sat down in the middle of the field, holding a weak, shaking hand to her forehead. It was hard to know if she had a fever or if the searing flames of her cheeks were just because the skin there was sunburned. She could tell, however, that if she didn't lay down soon, she would pass out.  
Her pride could not allow her to do that, though. She couldn't let Ysalane believe that she'd won this battle. Oh no. It wouldn't be that easy!  
Then again, perhaps it would.  
Suddenly, Nhutalu was flat on her back, staring up at the sky although she was not looking at it. She couldn't tell if she'd actually lost consciousness, and if she had, for how much time she'd been out. The sun seemed to be in the same general spot as it had been when Nhutalu last remembered noticing it. Perhaps it was the following day already.  
Slowly, Nhutalu sat up; her head was throbbing and her throat was no better off than it had been when she collapsed. But there was a figure who approached her slowly, a few yards away yet.  
"Are you okay?" A gentle voice asked her.  
Nhutalu blinked, desperately trying to focus ahead of herself. It was one of the Virgins of the Sun, the one who remained largely silent while Nhutalu was there.  
"Are you okay?" Repeated Kelsey, stooping down beside Nhutalu. "I've been looking for you."  
"Lemme guess," Nhutalu croaked, flinching from the pain of speaking with parched windpipes. "Ysalane sent you."  
Kelsey frowned. "No. No, actually, she doesn't know I'm here. I only told Airiway where I was going."  
"Huh." Nhutalu watched Kelsey closely, looking for any hint that the girl was lying. She found nothing. Her defenses relaxed slightly, Nhutalu mentioned, "I've seen you at the House of the Virgins of the Sun. . . . You're always alone. Who are you?"  
Kelsey did not hesitate in introducing herself, nor did she hesitate before launching into an unabridged version of her life story.  
Nhutalu found it mildly intriguing. Of greater concern was why Kelsey was being so nice and how long it would be when she, too, turned against Nhutalu. But no, Kelsey seemed sincere. Then, perhaps it was the royalty who were a bunch of liars. Wait, no. Her parents had lied like crazy as well . . . Not to mention a few tiny fibs of her own that would not release her conscience.  
"Hey, listen, can I tell you something?" Kelsey asked.  
Nhutalu nodded. "Uh . . . Sure. Go ahead."  
"You look horrible."  
"Thanks. I know that," replied Nhutalu, mildly irritated. "That's what happens when you're forced to work without rest and then beaten, on top of that!"  
"I'm sorry Ysalane's doing that to you. I don't know what's come over her!"  
"Yeah," Nhutalu said sullenly. "I'm sorry Ysalane's doing that to me, too." After a moment, she continued, "What was the reason you felt compelled to tell me how disgusting I am?"  
Kelsey smiled. "I wanted to help you clean up tonight. Give you a shoulder massage to relax your sore muscles."  
"But what about Ysalane?"  
"There's a pond on the other side of this field. I'll meet you there as it's just starting to grow dark. Ysalane won't know."  
"Are you sure?"  
Nodding, Kelsey stood up. "Yes, I'm sure. Don't worry about it. But now I'd better get back to the Aqllawasi before anyone gets suspicious."  
Before Nhutalu could say anything else, Kelsey took off at a sprint, heading back to the main path.  
  
Kuzco had never exactly been good with words. But he'd always thought he had style with his language and no one had ever spoken otherwise. But four days had passed and he'd still been unable to find a new way of phrasing that law. His scribe had been no help, whatsoever. Kuzco began to wonder why he even had a scribe, at that point.  
The scribe, himself, had been mildly annoyed at Kuzco from the get-go. Because the Emperor had been unable to express himself sufficiently immediately, the scribe suddenly became an extension of the royal body. He was forced to follow Kuzco everywhere he went, just in case inspiration struck -- at any time. This included the royal bedchamber. The stone floor beside his Emperorship's bed proved to be every bit as comfortable as it sounded. Four nights of that type bedding led to the inevitable sleep-deprivation.  
The royal scribe was cranky.  
Then again, so was Kuzco. At least Ysalane had been kind enough to stay out of his hair for the time being.  
For Ysalane, keeping Nhutalu busy had unexpectedly become a full time job. It was almost like baby-sitting. But finally, Ysalane could trust that she had Nhutalu's subservience and decided to take the day off. The father of her unborn baby needed to be visited. And what better time than when Nhutalu was busy in the field and Kelsey, who she was concerned about being loyal to the peasant girl, was undoubtedly tied up as the losing side of the battle with the other girls of the Aqllawasi.  
Life was good.  
"How about if we abolish the law altogether?" Kuzco suggested.  
The scribe sighed. "Your Highness, we've been over this! If you take away one law, a comparable one must replace it."  
"Now that's just stupid," snapped Kuzco. "Who made that one up?"  
"Your father," the scribe was reluctant to reply.  
Kuzco groaned. It figures.  
After a moment of silence, the poor scribe ventured, "Emperor Kuzco, I'm exhausted. May I please go back to my bed to rest?"  
"If I cannot rest, you cannot rest, either."  
The scribe lowered his head. But Kuzco had gotten the chance to rest. Every night. As he stood beside the Emperor's throne, the scribe felt his eyelids begin to droop.  
"Wake up!" Kuzco barked. When his scribe jumped in surprise, Kuzco continued, whining, "Help me! Don't just stand there with your eyes in their sockets!"  
"But . . . Where are my eyes supposed to be, Your Highness?"  
"Don't bother me with trivial questions. Now quit avoiding the subject and help me, already."  
"How about just picking a bride, already?" Ysalane suggested, inviting herself into the throne room after eavesdropping for quite some time. "We're bringing the line-up tonight, Kuzco. No more procrastinating."  
Kuzco seethed. He was not about to allow his sister to force him into picking a girl to be his wife who was only sub-par. Yet there was little he could do, otherwise. Not until he got over this 'writer's block' and rewrote that ridiculous law. Perhaps the fear of choosing a bride would be motivation enough. "How about no," he replied. "Is this all you came here for? Just to upset me?"  
Ysalane gave him a mock pout. "No. Of course not. Actually . . . I . . . uh . . ." She glanced around, trying to find a good excuse for being there, other than upsetting her brother. Suddenly, something hit her. "Oh! Kuzco -- the baby's kicking! Feel it!"  
"No," he sneered, not even bothering to conceal his disgust. "I'd rather not."  
"Oh come on," Ysalane whined. She reached out for Kuzco, taking his hand and guiding it toward her belly. "It's really neat!"  
"No!" He yelled, yanking his hand from her grasp. "That's disgusting!"  
Ysalane gasped, staring at Kuzco wide-eyed for a moment. "You wouldn't have done that if I were Nhutalu!" She cried. When Kuzco failed to disagree with her last statement, Ysalane whirled around and stormed out of the throne room.  
Kuzco looked down at his hand in silence and shuddered.  
  
Nhutalu kneeled in front of one of the remaining un-harvested corn plants, looking at her hands sorrowfully. Her blisters had blisters. Slowly and gently, she picked away at the dry skin. It came off without a struggle and that made Nhutalu rather queasy.  
For the first time she could remember, Nhutalu was actually glad that Kuzco was not around to see her. He would be so repulsed by her appearance. Nhutalu blushed.  
"Hey."  
Nhutalu glanced up. Just as she had promised, as the sky grew dark, Kelsey came by on her way to the pond.  
"Don't tell me you actually continued to work after I left," Kelsey practically scolded.  
"I do what I'm told," Nhutalu replied sheepishly, holding out her hands for Kelsey to inspect.  
Kelsey took Nhutalu's hands gently, clucking disapprovingly. "I don't know what you did, but I seriously doubt you deserve all this."  
"Funny," said Nhutalu wryly, "I don't know what I did, either." Well, okay, so that wasn't entirely true. She knew it involved Kuzco -- and of course, Ysalane's horrible jealous streak. But other than that, Nhutalu had no details. And she was loathe to believe that Kuzco was actually already married to someone.  
"Any case, come on. I promised you something, didn't I?" Smiling, Kelsey led Nhutalu down to the pond.  
The two girls chatted as Nhutalu shimmied out of her outfit, whatever little modesty her clothing provided her as it was. Slowly, she lowered herself into the pond, her exposed flesh rising in goosebumps all over. "It's colder than I thought it would be," Nhutalu commented, shivering. "But it feels good. I needed this."  
Kelsey scooted over to the edge of the pond, placing her hands on Nhutalu's bare shoulders. "Y'know, I love Ysalane to pieces but I think she's being too hard on you."  
Nhutalu glanced over her shoulder at Kelsey. "Why are you being so nice to me?"  
Kelsey sighed. "Let's just say . . . I know all too well what it's like to be the outcast."  
Nhutalu placed a wet hand atop Kelsey's as it kneaded her shoulder. "Thank you."  
Speaking in such a way that Nhutalu could hear her smile even when she could not see it, Kelsey said, "You're welcome."  
  
Ysalane was crying. "How can he be this way?" She managed to ask. But no one responded. No one even bothered to comfort her. This was a disturbing new trend. "Now, now," she said flatly, "don't you all rush over to comfort me."  
One girl, finally giving in to her feelings of obligation toward Ysalane, approached her. As sincerely as she could muster, she inquired, "What happened?"  
"I just asked him to touch me and he recoiled in horror!" She sobbed. "I wanted him to feel his baby kicking -- tell me, Airiway, is that too much to ask?!"  
"W-with all due respect, Your Highness, he is still young and has quite a while to mature," Airiway stuttered.  
Ysalane glared at her, not quite knowing how to respond. "The law's the law," she stated finally. "We had to have this baby."  
"Well, yes, that's true." And Airiway probably knew about that better than anyone else. Being the oldest, she'd been around the longest and even remembered a year or two before Kuzco was born. The only reason she was in Kuzco's Aqllawasi was because she was picked in case he went for older girls. "But the law does not state that he has to care about the baby."  
"Would that be so repulsive?"  
"This is Emperor Kuzco, we're talking about."  
Ysalane sighed. Unfortunately, Airiway had a point. But that didn't make things better.  
As things quieted down that evening, there came a timid knock on the main door of the Aqllawasi. After a small debate, the Virgin nearest the door -- coincidentally, Airiway, went to answer it.  
"Kronk?" She blinked, barely recognizing him from a few previous chance encounters around the palace.  
"May I come in?" Kronk asked politely.  
She smiled, opening the door for him. "Of course! You should know you're always welcome here."  
Kronk smiled in return as he entered the House of the Virgins of the Sun. Glancing around, his smile quickly faded. "Ysalane?" He asked after a few more sweeps of the room with his eyes.  
Ysalane stood as quickly as she could, making her way over to Kronk. "Yes? Is something the matter?"  
"Nhutalu's not here," he pointed out, quickly growing annoyed. They were depending on him and he was not about to let them all down. Especially not because of someone else's doing.  
"No," Ysalane replied nervously. "She's not."  
"Where is she?"  
"Well why do you want to know?"  
"Because it's time."  
Ysalane broke out into a visible sweat. "Well . . . She, uh . . ." Ysalane debated about what or how exactly she would say what was on her mind. "She's not here."  
"I can see that," Kronk said, sternly taking Ysalane by the arms. "Where. Is. She?"  
Ysalane swallowed thickly, looking to Airiway for help. But the oldest Virgin folded her arms over her chest, having heard from Kelsey where Nhutalu had disappeared to. Although Airiway had her sights set on someone else, someone she could never have because she already technically belonged to Kuzco, she wouldn't be the one to deny anyone else the 'pleasure' of being owned by him. Or sacrificed. Whichever they were calling that now. In any case, what Ysalane had done to the poor peasant was not just a bit on the unfair side. Swallowing once more, Ysalane looked back up at Kronk. "She's uh . . . She's in the fields."  
Suddenly angered, Kronk replied, "What's she doing there? You were supposed to be preparing her! I trusted you with that!"  
Airiway looked on, enthralled. This was a side of Kronk she'd never seen before and it was --although rather frightening-- a strange turn-on.  
"But Kronk!" Ysalane protested. "Nhutalu doesn't deserve this!"  
Kronk kept silent for a moment to cool his seldom seen temper. In the meantime, Airiway decided to help.  
"Um . . . Kronk?" She put a hand timidly on his arm. "I think I know where Nhutalu is . . ." Airiway paused, feeling Ysalane's reproachful glare. Then, deciding to take her chances with the irrational woman, she continued, "I'll take you to her."  
  
"I really want to be a part of this," Airiway told Kronk as she led him to the fields in the shadow of the palace.  
"You do?" He asked in surprise, allowing the girl to revel in his naiveté. It should have been obvious when she'd decided to help back at the Aqllawasi.  
"Yes," Airiway replied. "Kelsey told me she was meeting Nhutalu at the pond -- that's why I told you. . . . I want Nhutalu there because I know Kuzco would pick her over me." She blushed slightly. "I told you that for my own well-being . . . I just don't want to sound selfish."  
Kronk smiled at her. "Well, you did the right thing. Thank you."  
  
Nhutalu dunked her head beneath the water of the pond and came back up for air, feeling her wet hair cling to her bare shoulders. She never would have guessed taking a dip would be so nice. By then, Kelsey had dipped her bare feet in the pond as well and continued to chat with Nhutalu. During the lull in their conversation, Kelsey heard the sound of two people approaching. While Nhutalu's back was turned, Kelsey withdrew her feet from the water and jumped up. Kronk and Airiway were quickly approaching.  
"Oh no!" Kelsey gasped, her heart leaping into her throat. "Talu! Quick! Someone's coming!"  
Nhutalu turned around, hurrying as best she could in the water. But as she did so, she slid numerous times on the slippery pond floor, and one time lost her balance, falling in the water and getting coated in mud. She came up, gasping for breath and stretching for her clothing. But she did not reach it in time.  
Kronk and Airiway stopped at the edge of the pond, both gaping at what they saw. Although Kronk had previously seen Nhutalu in that state of undress, and beside the fact that it was dark out, both she and he blushed furiously. As Kelsey rushed to clothe Nhutalu, she asked of the intruders, "What are you doing here?"  
"It's time," Kronk replied.  
"You're gonna let her clean up, aren't you?" Kelsey practically demanded, pointing at the mess that was Nhutalu.  
"No time," Airiway told her. "Come on, hurry, hurry! We can't be late!"  
Nhutalu panicked. "No! No, please don't make me do this!" She collapsed in a semi-gelatinous heap on the ground, shying away from whoever tried comforting her.  
Finally, Kronk sighed. Bending over, he scooped Nhutalu up in his arms and carried her back to the palace, Airiway and Kelsey on either side of him.  
  
The throne room was alive with chatter. There was a small line-up of a diverse selection of Emperor Kuzco's subjects. At one end was a teary-eyed, red-faced Ysalane. But Kuzco was nowhere to be found.  
To the line-up, Nhutalu, Kelsey and Airiway were added. Airiway was all smiles and Nhutalu was crying and shaking so hard that she could barely stand under her own power. Kelsey seemed a bit unhappy about the state in which they brought Nhutalu back to the palace, but otherwise was anxious about the impending events. But most everyone fell silent when they heard incoherent hollering from just outside the throne room.  
"No! You can't! You won't make me!" It was Kuzco, sounding angrier than anyone thought it was possible for him to sound. Mere moments later, he was literally dragged into the room, practically kicking and screaming. "I refuse to!"  
"Just look at them!" Pacha snapped as he accompanied the flailing Emperor. "You don't have to choose anyone if you don't want to."  
"That's not true!" Ysalane screeched. "It's the law!"  
Pacha exchanged glances with Kronk and they nodded in silent agreement. Kronk then snapped his fingers and had the guards take gentle hold of Ysalane.  
"By orders of the Emperor, take her back to the Aqllawasi and keep her there until the baby comes!" Kronk commanded.  
As Airiway looked at Kronk more dreamy-eyed than ever, Ysalane gasped. "What?!" Screeched the would-be Empress.  
"I didn't say that," Kuzco snapped. "But now that you mention it, I probably should have. In fact, that's a really good idea. No, no, wait! Take her back to the Aqllawasi forever!" For a fleeting moment, he smiled, waving at Ysalane as she was escorted from the throne room.   
"What?" Ysalane screamed. "Kuzco! You can't do this to me!"  
"You're not really going to make her stay there forever, are you Kuzco?" Chicha asked him softly, taking Pacha's hand.  
Kuzco shrugged. "Nah -- not forever. Just until she gets over her own delusions of grandeur." Slowly, his smile faded as he turned back to the line-up. "Do I have to pick someone?"  
Pacha smiled encouragingly, patting Kuzco on the back. "No. Not unless you see anyone you want."  
Kuzco sighed. "Fine." Slowly, he went down the motley lone-up. The first two girls he saw were ones that he had already rejected numerous times from the Aqllawasi. The third girl, however, wasn't exactly human. A fluffy white llama regarded Kuzco sweetly. "What is this?" He asked. "Who put this line-up together?"  
Pacha and Kronk both started to chuckle, and in the witnesses behind them, giggles arose. Chicha and Pacha's kids were there, watching, as well, and giggling. In unison, Pacha and Kronk confessed, "We did."  
"That explains it," Kuzco mumbled. Rolling his eyes, he continued down the line, making comments on each girl he passed. Suddenly, he fell silent, his hand dropping down to his side limply.  
There stood Nhutalu, her hands clasped in front of her and her eyes glued to the floor. She was a total wreck; her face was red from both blushing and days spent out, unobstructed, in the sun. She was bruised all over, scratches in all states of the healing process decorating her arms and legs. Her white clothing was still dripping wet from the pond and her hair, face and hands had mud caked all over them from when she fell in the water. Nhutalu had never looked more disheveled, with tears streaming down her face.  
To Kuzco, she'd never looked more beautiful.  
For a fleeting moment, he didn't even know what to do with himself. Then, he smiled slowly, turning back to Pacha. "Anyone I want, you said?"  
Nhutalu glanced up at Kuzco, her eyes widening when she saw his smile. "Look, I know you're probably mad at me for leaving, but do you really want to kill me?"  
"Kill you?" Kuzco blinked, then burst out laughing. "You're so . . . so . . . wonderful!" He embraced her, swinging her around. "I've made my choice!"  
"Kuzco, no!" Nhutalu cried. "Please don't sacrifice me!"  
Kuzco practically dropped Nhutalu. "Sacrifice you? To who? Why? Who told you that?"  
"He did!" She pointed at Kronk. "They all did!"  
Kronk laughed nervously. "Uh . . . that's what we used to call it. You know . . . Aheh, back then. I'm sorry for deceiving you like that."  
Kuzco frowned. "You told Talu that we were going to sacrifice her?"  
Kronk glanced at Pacha and they both shrugged sheepishly. "We, uh, didn't want her thinking that she had any choice in the matter . . ." Pacha explained. "We did it for you, Emperor Kuzco."  
Nhutalu glanced between them, her jaw falling. "You mean . . . You set me up? You set us up?!"  
Suddenly, Kronk and Pacha took interest in the ceiling of the throne room. "I wouldn't put it that way . . ." Pacha said.  
"Yes we did." Kronk bit his lip. "But . . . Well . . . We had a good reason, at least . . ."  
Nhutalu folded her arms across her chest. "Let me guess. You guys wanted to get me together with Kuzco so bad that you devised a plan to trick me into thinking I was gonna be sacrificed to a God so you could get me to the palace where I would be added to the line-up so Kuzco would pick me and I would have no choice in the matter?"  
"Uh . . . Yeah, actually. That's it. That's exactly what it was," answered Kronk.  
"Strange . . . It sounded much more impressive and complex when we came up with it," Pacha muttered, mostly to himself.  
Eyes narrowed, Nhutalu hissed, "How could you do that to me? Do you know what I went through because of that?"  
Before she could go any further, Kuzco grabbed her hands, pulling her aside. "I need to talk to you. Now."  
"Hey!" Kronk cried to them. "Ask her about The Freckle!"  
Nhutalu blushed deeply, adjusting the collar of her blouse. "Okay," she whispered to Kuzco, unable to look up at him. "So talk . . ."  
"Freckle?" Kuzco asked, blinking a few times.  
Even more uncomfortable, Nhutalu folded her arms across her chest once more, as if he could somehow see the freckle in question through her blouse. "What did you want to tell me?"  
With a raised eyebrow and an extremely curious stare at Nhutalu's collarbone, he said, "If I could somehow convey to you how sorry I am about lying to you --" he stopped, suddenly gasping. "There is! I bet there is!"  
Nhutalu smirked, finally looking up at him. "I could think of only one thing that would convince me --"  
Kuzco put his hands against her lips to silence her. "I'm so sorry, Talu. I never meant to hurt you because . . ." He drew in a deep breath and raised his voice now loud enough for everyone to hear, "Because I love you."  
"And that was it!" She squealed after the initial shock of what he said wore off, throwing her arms around his neck. "I love you, too!"  
"That was it? That's all I had to do to make you happy?"  
Furrowing her eyebrows, Nhutalu replied, "Well . . . yeah. But . . . Did you have to make it sound so petty?"  
"No. I just . . . I thought I had made it obvious that I love you."  
Nhutalu blushed. "I'm a bit slow and . . . sometimes things have to be in black and white for me to see them."  
Kuzco smiled, deciding to take advantage of the situation. He brushed the hair from her cheek and informed her, "That's one of the things that I love about you." He leaned in to kiss her but she still held back slightly, her hands pressing against his chest firmly. "What?"  
"Kuzco, we were set up," she reminded him, looking at him pointedly and then glancing at Pacha and Kronk. "You're not letting them off the hook that easily, are you?" Although she wasn't really mad at either Pacha or Kronk, she did want to see that at least Kuzco was going to do something to them for scaring her like that.  
"Well . . . they did bring you back to me . . ."  
"Fine. If you won't, then I will." She turned to charge for Kronk and Pacha but Kuzco restrained her. "I'll kill 'em!" She yelled. "Lemme at 'em!"  
"No, Talu -- Not now."  
"Why not?" She turned back to him, mock pouting.  
"Because," Kuzco told Nhutalu, kissing her softly on the lips. "Right now . . . It's all about us!"  



	13. Finding the Llama Within

Epilogue  
  
Nhutalu exhaled slowly, hoping the cleansing breath would soothe her frazzled nerves. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to become more active when she did that, however.  
"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet," Kelsey said, helping to secure the wrap at Nhutalu's waist.  
"No," replied Nhutalu, trying to remain calm, especially with what she was about to say. "It's not every day a girl acquires an entire Empire."  
"Don't worry yourself about that," Airiway reassured her. "Emperor Kuzco will still be ruling the Empire on his own. Your job will be to nag him when he does something stupid."  
"Well how will I know when he's doing something stupid?" Nhutalu asked.  
"She's about to panic again," Airiway muttered to Kelsey. "No passing out on us, Nhutalu."  
"I'm not ready for this kind of responsibility --"  
"Sure you are!" Kelsey and Airiway replied in unison.  
"Now I don't want to hear any more of this self-conscious garbage from you." Airiway got to her knees before Nhutalu and began to adjust the hem of Nhutalu's gown. She and Kelsey had dressed the soon-to-be Empress in a gown made from the silky wool of the Empire's prettiest vicuñas and had spent about an hour adjusting it, making sure it fit just right.  
Nhutalu took another deep breath, smoothing the floor-length blue skirt she wore. "So, Airiway," she said, hoping the subject change would help ease her anxiety, "how are you and Kronk doing?"  
Airiway blushed. "He decided our ceremony should be a month from now."  
Nhutalu squealed, stooping down to hug Airiway. "I'm so happy for you!"  
Shortly after Kuzco had chosen Nhutalu to be his bride, he had noticed the way Airiway and Kronk were eyeing each other. Although Airiway had sworn celibacy --unless the Inti chose her-- when she joined Kuzco's Aqllawasi, Kuzco allowed her the freedom to leave. Something like that had never been done before and probably wouldn't be done since. There was a deafening outcry from the remaining girls in the Aqllawasi about this, the ones who knew that they would never be chosen by the Emperor and thus would be destined to spend the remainder of their lives as Virgins.  
But Airiway and Kronk had no complaints. And those who questioned Kuzco got an earful about how Airiway and Kronk had done a deed good enough to deserve one to happen to them in return.  
Pacha poked his head into the room where Nhutalu had been blessed and then readied for the ceremony. "The Emperor is waiting," he told the three virgins.  
Nhutalu faltered, practically blacking out for a moment.  
"Whoa! Nhutalu --" Kelsey grunted, barely able to support her.  
"I can't do this," gasped Nhutalu, her face turning white and her voice shaking. "I can't do this."  
When Airiway attempted to escort Nhutalu to the huaca, Nhutalu would not budge. For a moment, she and Kelsey panicked. Then, Airiway took Nhutalu's hands.  
"Talu, listen to me," she said. "I know you're scared. But at least just make it to the door of the temple. If you still want to leave, then you can."  
Nhutalu knew that Airiway had no right saying such things and that inevitably, it would be Kuzco's decision. But Airiway's suggestion seemed -- for some reason -- satisfactory enough.  
As they walked by, Pacha gave Nhutalu a quick kiss on the cheek. "You can do this," he whispered to her just before falling in step some length behind the three Virgins.  
At the door to the huaca, Nhutalu froze.  
"Come on," Airiway coaxed her. "You've made it this far."  
"No, no --" Nhutalu whimpered. "I'm scared."  
"Don't be scared," Kelsey attempted to reassure her.  
Nhutalu clenched her eyes shut, trying not to hyperventilate. What was she doing? "Oh no, oh no, oh no . . ."  
Airiway quietly stepped up to the temple and opened the door. Kuzco was standing at the far end of the aisle and turned when he noticed the sunlight suddenly streaming in. He was dressed in clothes not much unlike his usual Emperor attire, but with many more gold accents all over.  
"Look --" Kelsey whispered, gently putting a hand on Nhutalu's shoulder.  
"No," she whined. "I don't wanna . . ."  
"Come on," Airiway said, trotting back over to them. "Open 'em up, Talu. Take a deep breath -- I think you'll like what you'll see."  
Drawing in a lengthy, tremulous breath, Nhutalu opened her eyes.  
Kuzco didn't look the least bit afraid. He grinned at Nhutalu and waved excitedly at her to join him. Seeing him so confident did relieve some of her anxiety; just enough for her to regain the strength to enter into the temple and make it down the aisle.  
She was grateful to reach him, especially when he reached out and took her hands. "Are you ready for this?"  
Nhutalu swallowed thickly. "What about Ysalane?" She blurted out. She'd kept meaning to ask him for weeks, since the night Kuzco picked her from the line-up. And that would be her last chance before entering into something that she couldn't easily back out of. Unless she died.  
"Listen," he whispered, squeezing her hands. "I did what I did because it was required of me. The throne needs an heir -- according to the stupid law -- and I fulfilled my duty." He shuddered. "Ysalane is just my sister. I've talked to her and punished her for what she did to you and she knows her place. You don't need to worry about her." After a pause, he finished, "Besides, after the talk we had, she doesn't seem to want to leave the Aqllawasi. At least . . . not any time soon."  
Nhutalu watched Kuzco explain this to her, seeing no nervous twitches, nothing to lead her to think that he was lying. His eyes never strayed from hers.  
"Believe me," Kuzco requested.  
"I do. I do believe you."  
"Are you ready now?"  
The truth was, she really never would be. "Yes. Yes, I am." She bit her lip, smiling up at him slightly.  
He smiled back at her, feeling unmasculine tears threaten to squeeze out of the corner of his eyes.  
Halfway through their traditional wedding ceremony, Kuzco leaned over and kissed Nhutalu in the middle of the forehead. "I told you that you were my princess, remember? And now -- now you're gonna be my Queen."  
  
The End  
Finding the Llama Within -- Written by J.E. Zison :-)  



End file.
